Have a little Faith in me
by Artistic Gravity
Summary: "I may not have been the best sister, but don't lose all hope just yet. Have a little faith in me." -This is my first fanfic! Reviews of all kind are welcome. The story contains an OC which is who the story will be centered on and in how she manages with the events in the game. Not a mary-sue...i think.
1. Defiers of Fate

**Disclaimer- I think we all know I don't own Final fantasy XIII...*sigh* **

**Author's note: Fist fanfic! Sorry if it has any grammatical errors and so on. English isn't my native language so yeah...**

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Chapter 1- Defiers of fate

_"The thirteen days after we awoke were the beginning of the end."_

'Man, this sucks...' I sighed lowering my head as I looked at my cuffed hands on my lap. I was currently sitting on a train full of people waiting to get purged.

"You serious?" A man that sat a few sits next to mine asked.

"Be quiet." The woman next to him ordered in a low voice as a PSICOM soldier came in, pointing his gun and staring down at everyone. We were all dressed in the same grayish white cloak with blue linings running down it. Our faces hidden by the hood of said cloak.

"Hmph. Best of luck." The same man that had spoken before said to the woman next to him.

We were nearing the Hanging Edge when the train started shaking as it got through the force field, making the soldier lose his balance. The woman took the opportunity and launched herself towards the soldier, knocking him out before stepping on the controller he was holding, breaking everyone free of their cuffs. All the passengers stood up cheering silently as they realized they were free.

"She did it!" The man that had previously spoken exclaimed as he stood up, just as two other PSICOM soldiers rushed in shooting as they realized what had happened.

The woman jumped out of her cloak before kicking one of the soldiers in the head and then elbowing the other, taking the gun he was holding. She kicked another oncoming soldier in the head, before shooting the one behind him.

I just watched in shock as all of this happened. I glanced to my right to see the man that had spoken to the lady had taken off his cloak as well, revealing a black man with dark brown eyes. He seemed to be in his early 40's and his hair was styled in an afro. He was wearing an olive pilot coat over a white button-up shirt, khaki pants with black boots and black fingerless gloves. He also had two pistol holsters strapped to his thighs.

He looked at me and smiled before kneeling beside a little boy with blonde hair and asked him if he was all right. "I'm not a l'cie". He assured him. The little boy looked up hesitantly, when suddenly a chocobo chick popped out of the man's hair and chirped, making the little boy laugh.

'Was that thing in there the whole time?' I wondered raising an amused eyebrow. Not knowing what else to do, i decided to follow the man. Afro man, as I had decided to call him since I didn't know his name, started to hand out guns to the other passengers.

"So far, so good" He says as he leads us to where the woman from before was.

"They all want to fight." He informed her. I looked from behind him towards her.

"Good for them." She dismissed frowning.

I looked at her closely. She had pink hair thrown over her left shoulder. She also had blue eyes and wore a Guardian Corps uniform, which consisted of a white leather vest over a sleeveless brown turtle neck. On her left shoulder she had a green metallic pauldron which showed off her rank as a sergeant and a red cape, which was attached to the pauldron. She also had a black sleeve on her left arm, blue fingerless gloves, a short brown leather skirt and belt, a leg pouch was attached to her left thigh and she had knee-length boots.

'No wonder she can fight like that! She's a freaking soldier!' I concluded after I had finished analyzing her. I mentally cried since I realized I probably had no chance of getting out of this alive. She looked out the train's door to see we had entered the Hanging Edge. I began to chew nervously on my bottom lip in anxiety when suddenly, air planes started to shoot at the train.

"Give me that." The woman snapped, taking afro man's bazooka shooting at one of the planes and successfully taking it down. Then shot at another, but missed. I helplessly watched as the plane shot what seemed to be electricity and destroyed half of the train. But thankfully the train kept going. Then a militarized unit came flying right towards the train.

"We're dead..." I deadpanned as the thing came closer. Afro man shot me a pointed look as if saying 'Not helping' and I just grimaced in return. Then the mechanical scorpion, as I had decided to call it, jumped on the train stopping it from going any further. He smacked his tail on top of the train making a huge gape.

"RUN!" Afro man shouted. "I meant away!" he added as the pink haired woman jumped towards where the mechanical scorpion rested. He sighed as he climbed up after her. I looked around me to see if I could find a way out of this. Only to frown when I realized the only way to survive is to go with them. I took a gun that was ironically right by my feet, and made my way over to climb out the hole.

"Hey! Come on! It's not safe down there!" I looked up to see afro man looking down at me from the hole.

'Oh, and fighting a mechanical scorpion is…?' I mentally questioned as I took the hand he offered to help me up. As I got on top of the train, I saw that the pink haired woman had drawn her weapon, cerulean blue eyes glaring intently at the robot scanning for weak spots.

Afro man fell over on his back at the sight of the scorpion. "Hey, HEY! Let's be rational now!" He said inching backwards to where I was. I looked down at him nervously and then looked up in time to see the scorpion swing his tail at us. My eyes widened and I yelped as I fell on my butt to dodge the hit. Afro man rolled backwards, while the pink haired woman executed a somersault in midair.

"He's drawing the big guns! Now what do we do?!" Afro man said exasperated.

"Watch and learn!" The pink haired woman replied, glaring at the mechanical scorpion before launching herself towards it.

'Oh Maker! Please let me get out of this alive….' I prayed as I readied myself to fight.

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Battle theme: Blinded by light._

The pink haired woman attacked the mechanical scorpion head on, directly attacking the head. The only sound that could be heard was the clashing of metal against metal. Afro man and I looked at each other, he shrugged and then started to shoot at the robot. The man doing slightly ridiculous moves that looked like he was dancing as he attacked it, while I just kept shooting randomly hoping that I wouldn't accidentally hit one of my 'party members'. A few minutes later, that took forever might I add, the mechanical scorpion was severely damaged. He flew to the back of the train and started to shake the already damaged bridge.

"Fall back!" The pink haired lady ordered

"Not so tough now, huh?!" Afro man yelled at the thing laughing.

I sighed in relief, only to almost get my heart ripped out of my chest as the thing's blasters came to life.

"Hey that wasn't like a challenge now, All right?! Hey!" Afro man called out at the thing. I shot a dirty look at the back of his head for opening his big mouth. The mechanical scorpion started to lift the train off the bridge.

"Run!" the pink haired lady commanded.

"Oh Maker, oh Maker. No, no, no, no!" I clumsily ran after them, but then all of a sudden, I was jerked back, the gun I was holding flying out of my hands at the unexpected tug. I gasped, my eyes widening in horror as I looked behind myself. The cloak, which I had totally forgotten I still had on, had gotten caught on a chunk of metal that was sticking up on the train. I mentally slapped myself for not taking it off earlier. I kept trying to pull myself free but to no avail. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach as the train started to fall off the bridge.

"No!" I cried loudly as I hurriedly tried to get it off. The zipper was stuck. I let out frustrated grunts as I kept on pulling at the zipper. What are the odds of dying because of a cloak?

"Jump!" I heard the pink haired woman yell.

"C'mon kid!" I heard afro exclaim.

My hands started to shake. The train getting closer to falling completely off the edge, making it extra harder for me to concentrate. Then suddenly a pink blur passed by my line of vision.

**'Slash'**.

My eyes widened the size of saucers as I realized that the pink haired soldier had come to my aid and cut through the cloak with her weapon, which was a gunbalde if I'm not mistaken. She jumped off the train pulling me along by my arm. The train falling to the darkness bellow.

"You okay kid?" Afro asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. I nodded breathlessly throwing the remains of the cloak as far away from me as I could. I looked at the pink haired soldier ,who was standing a few feet away, then swiveled my gaze to the floor.

"Thank you..." I whispered hoping she had gotten it. I looked up slightly to see if she had heard it, only to immediately avert my gaze as I caught sight of the sharp glare she was giving me.

**'Clunk'**. We sharply turned our heads at the sound, the mechanical scorpion stood before us.

"This thing just won't give up!" Afro said as it went after us again. I just groaned in agreement reloading the gun the man handed me after I lost hold of the one I had. After a while of shooting and slashing, the thing finally went down.

**BATTLE ENDS**

"We did it." Afro man breathed out as he sat down on the floor. I nodded as I bent down and put my hands on my knees to support myself. The pink haired woman kneeled by the sides of the bridge, probably to check if the thing would pop out again, just as a few air ships flew by. I looked down at myself to see my white shirt was practically gray by now. My attire consisted of a white button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves, a black belt around my waist and black shorts. My wrists were covered by multiple leather bracelets and on my feet I wore black combat boots.

"Aren't you supposed to protect civilians, soldier?" Afro man asked. I looked up to see that the pinkette had started to walk away. "I mean you are sanctum right? What are you doing trying to stop the purge? Why don't you tell me that?" He asked as he stood up. She stopped and turned her head slightly to look at him.

"I was a soldier." She coldly replied and walked off.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" He yelled after her. The woman ignored him and continued on her way. He sighed, the chocobo from before flying out of his hair. It chirped and landed on his outstretched hand. I just stared when he started talking to the little chick.

"Chocobo, we just can't seem to catch a break can we?" He asked the chick. The chocobo chirped in return "Yeah that's a good question." He said as he started to climb down after the pink haired soldier, grumbling about how he was too old for this.

I sighed and closed my eyes "I hope they're not here as well…" I whispered running my hands through my silver locks, and continued after the two.

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**Well that's it for first chapter... Tell me what you think, yeah? :D**


	2. Fields of war

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything except for my OC, all credits go to Square Enix.**

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Chapter 2- Fields of war

So far we have encounter PSICOM soldiers everywhere we go. Right now we were watching a PSICOM warden, who was standing next to what seemed to be some sort of portal.

"Not wanting to get purged I get, but taking on trained soldiers?" Afro questioned as we kept watch on the PSICOM warden "Better to die than to get sent to Pulse. It's hell without the brimstone." The former soldier answered. The PSICOM warden pushed some buttons on his arm device and two pantherons jumped out of the portal.

"Yeah well hell's not sounding too bad. 'Cause this place ain't exactly paradise." He countered as he looked around.

"Domesticated peacekeepers, nothing to worry about." The pink haired woman assured as she shot me a quick side glance. She must have noticed my worried posture. My eyebrows were furrowed, my light blue-green eyes darting between the soldier and the two pantherons nervously. I clutched the gun afro man had handed me tightly.

"Maybe not for a Soldier Girl, but I'm trying to s-eh hey hey!" Afro man started but cut himself off when he noticed that the pink haired woman had ignored him. She darted forward towards the enemies with us following after her.

**BATTLE COMMENCE.**

_Theme: Blinded by light._

The former soldier took out the PSICOM warden out first elbowing him in the face. She flipped over him and then stabbed her gunblade through his chest with incredible speed. She then slashed at one of the pantherons, who yelped in pain. The woman did a blitz attack, which was a 360 circle with her gunblade in hand, hitting the two pantherons in the process. In anger one of the pantherons tries to claw at her, resulting in her swiftly dodging the attack. The former pilot, also known as afro man, quickly shot at the pantheron who growled and ran after him, but the pink haired woman moved first and stabbed the militarized unit by the side, making it cry out in pain and in frustration.

I was too engrossed in the fight to notice that the other pantheron was creeping up on me from behind. I heard a low growl snapping me out of my daze and making me look behind myself. I turned around slowly when I saw the pantheron was in a low crouch, tail swishing furiously behind him. I clutched my gun tightly and aimed at it. My heart beat picked up and beads of sweat took form on my forehead as I waited for the pantheron to make his move. He was moving slowly as if taunting me. Then suddenly the pantheron roared and started towards me. I rolled to the side and quickly stood back up again. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and started to shoot blindly at the animal. I heard the pantheron cry out in pain and I re-opened my eyes. He trashed his head around angrily and darted towards me again. My eyes widened and I jump to the side to dodge the attack. I landed on my side roughly and turned on my back. I looked towards the pantheron, who had turned around when he noticed I had dodged the attack growling in anger. I looked around myself for the gun.

'Dammit! How the hell did it get there?!' I thought in frustration as I saw the gun a few feet away from me. I looked back at the pantheron, who had crouched low again, and quickly stood up to make a mad dash towards the gun.

The pantheron ran behind me, claws out and ready to strike. He was quickly catching up, making me curse under my breath. I reached for the gun, but tripped. I turned my body in midair and landed on my back, but luckily I now had the gun. I panted as I took aim at it, my hands shaking a little because of my quick breathing and then…

'**BANG'**

I looked at the gun I was holding confused. There was a gun shot, but it wasn't mine. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked behind myself. The ex-pilot was standing behind me, his gun on his outstretched hand, pointing to where the now dead pantheron used to be.

**BATTLE ENDS**

"I had it under control you know…" I told him as I stood up and dusted myself off. He raised an amused eyebrow. "Of course you did."

He shot me a small teasing grin as I pouted. I nodded towards him in thanks though, he did help me after all, 'Even if I didn't need it.' I thought a little bitterly. He nodded back and turned around to follow the already walking pink haired woman. I frowned clenching my fist as I started to walk behind him. 'I need to be stronger…'

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I looked around as we kept walking, fighting more soldiers on the way. We reached a platform and I looked over the railing. There were a few people fighting a Beta Behemoth on the bridge below. The Behemoth, annoyed at being shot, lashed out angrily, easily killing the citizens fighting it.

"Murder. Cold-blooded murder." The former pilot murmured at the scene. I shook my head sorrowfully and followed after the ex-soldier. We had an encounter with another PSICOM soldier and a pantheron.

"Preemptive strike" The pink haired woman shouted slightly and dashed towards the enemies, but the pantheron caught sight of her and snarled making the PSICOM warden turn around.

"Rebels!" The PSICOM warden exclaimed.

"So much for the element of surprise." Afro man grumbled seeing as the surprise attack backfired.

"Maybe we shouldn't shout what we're going to do next time…" I concluded. The pink haired woman shot me an annoyed glare, making me shrink a little, biting my lip nervously and look forward to avoid it. She then took care of the phanteron while afro and I took on the PSICOM warden. I was getting the hang of fighting as I slowly but surely made progress. It was getting a little easier each time we fought.

As we moved forward I heard the sound of an airship. I looked up in time to see that an airship, on fire, was quickly taking speed towards the ground. I gasped as it fell on the path before us, making a huge explosion. I moved my arms up to cover my face as it made contact with the bridge and fell to my knees as the force of the explosion pushed us back.

Horror-filled screams were all I heard after the sounds of the explosion had drowned out. I moved my arms down, but immediately regret it. People were falling off of the bridge as the airship had cut right through it, half of the bridge gone, and just like that, tons of people dead.

"Do we turn back?" Afro questioned seeing as we couldn't possibly cross now.

"There's no time." The pink haired woman shot back.

"Then, what do we do?!" I questioned.

"Quiet." The woman ordered.

She walked towards the edge, she narrowed her eyes, eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully and her lips in a thin line. Then all of a sudden she snapped her fingers. A blue light emitted from her hand. It spread all over her body and then her body started to lift itself from the ground.

"What the-?" I started but got caught off by the ex-pilot as he latched himself to her to stop her from leaving.

"Hey- wait! No, no, don't leave me!" He shouted at her as she fought her way out of his grasp.

"Let go!" She grunted as she put her hand on his face to push him away.

"Hell no, you're my only way out of here!" He responded still attached to her.

She kicked him in the stomach and then elbowed him in the face. I stared not really sure of what to do. I can't let her leave me here, since she's my way out of here too. But I definitely don't want to end up like the former pilot, who was now on the floor. The woman started to snap her fingers again, but nothing happened.

"Tch!" She scowled and looked towards the edge again.

"Hey that might get us across! Right there!" The former pilot said on his knees, pointing at a nearby platform. The pink haired woman walked towards him to look where he was pointing.

"Looks that way." She answered. She glared at him clearly annoyed and started off towards the platform. I walked behind her and stopped to look back at the man, who was now standing up holding his left arm. He started to limp slightly. A shiver ran up my spine as I thought back on the hits and glare the ex-soldier had given him.

'I definitely don't want to be on her bad side…' I thought as I continued after her.

We saw three pantherons accompanied by a PSICOM warden, but ignored them and stepped on the platform. The pink haired woman pushed some buttons on the control console that appeared before her and the platform started to move.

"This is not our lucky day." The former pilot said as we got off the platform and saw a PSICOM marauder and two PSICOM enforcers.

"Deportees, are we? Weapons down. I'd hate for this to turn ugly." The PSICOM marauder said as he took out his weapon.

"Uh… 'turn ugly'?" the ex-pilot questioned looking towards the pink haired woman.

"He wants to kill us without a fight." She clarified taking out her gunblade.

Afro took his guns from their pistol holsters. I sighed as I prepared yet for another fight.

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Theme: Blinded by light._

"Time's up!" The PSICOM marauder launched himself towards us, weapon raised above his head. The two PSICOM enforcers following close behind him.

The pink haired woman started by doing a blitz attack, damaging all three enemies. She then proceeded to perform a chain attack on the PSICOM marauder. The ex-pilot and I took on the other two soldiers. One took a swing at me and I dodged, but was too slow to notice he had made another attack, which resulted in his fist making contact with my face. I staggered backwards slightly but didn't feel anything as the adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I moved my free hand towards my face. I touched my lip slightly and withdrew my hand. I looked at my hand and saw a little blood on it.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to hit a girl?" I hissed as I wiped the side of my mouth with the back of my hand.

The soldier didn't answer and charged at me again, but this time I moved faster and shot him in the knee making him cry out in pain as he fell to the floor clutching his knee.

"Sorry…" I then kicked him on his masked face knocking him out.

I looked towards the former pilot to see he had already taken care of the other soldier and was now helping the pink haired woman. So I too started to shoot at the PSICOM marauder.

'He's a lot tougher than the other two…' I thought as I saw him take another swing at the pink haired woman, who easily dodge and swung her own weapon at him. As the fight continued he staggered backwards. The pink haired woman took the opportunity and quickly performed a combo of attacks, killing the marauder in the process.

**BATTLE END**

"So, Soldier… what's your angle?" The ex-pilot questioned the pink haired woman. "What, classified military info? hmm? What's it matter? You quit, didn't you? You think I'm going to go out there and just tell everybody your secret?" He continued when she didn't answer.

"The Pulse fal'Cie." She cut him off.

"What?" He whispered in shock.

"My 'angle'. I'm after the fal'Cie." She continued as she turned to look at him. My eyes widened. 'What?! Going after the fal'Cie?! Is she crazy?' I stared at her as she walked towards the console.

"Still happy you tagged along?" She questioned as the platform started to move.

"Didn't have a choice." The ex-pilot whispered as the platform made its way to the other side of the bridge.

I began to sulk as I thought on what she had previously said. 'What's going to happen to me?' I wondered.

I touched the side of my lip which was where the PSICOM enforcer had punched me. I winced and withdrew my hand as pain shot through my lip. Now that the adrenaline was off I definitely felt the hit. I sat down on the floor as I waited for the platform to reach the other side.

'This will probably be the only chance of rest I'll get if I keep following this two, better treasure it...' I thought and closed my eyes.

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**Author's note: Yay! Another chapter! I changed the battle scenes as you may have noticed... I know what you're thinking, I suck at battle subjects. I'll work on that. I'll update the first chapter too... Some other time...**

**Well, tell me what you guys think and if I'm doing something wrong please point it out! I'll appreciate it! :) **


	3. Fates intertwined

**Disclaimer- I just own my OC, credits go to Square Enix for such an awesome game!**

Chapter 3- Fates intertwined

"_The Pulse fal'Cie. It held our future- and our fate."_

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The sounds of airships and gunshots were all I could hear. I was sprawled out on the floor staring off into space waiting for the platform to reach its destination. I was still pondering on what the pink haired soldier had said about her angle being the Pulse fal'Cie. Humans who encounter Pulse fal'Cie are cursed by being turned to l'Cie and ordered to destroy Cocoon. That's probably the reason most ordinary citizens supported the Purge—anyone who may have come into contact with one of these fal'Cie represents a dire threat, or so I've heard. I frowned, 'How can a mere human possibly take on a fal'Cie? What was she planning to do? And more importantly, what were her reasons? Sure everyone on Cocoon wants the Pulse fal'Cie gone since it's obviously a danger to us all, but why go this far just to take on the fal'Cie alone?' I was pulled out of my train of thoughts as the only male member in my 'party' spoke up.

"It's an out-and-out massacre." I sat up and looked over at him. He was looking out the edge at an explosion happening on the bridge below. "Those people won't even live long enough to die on Pulse." He added.

"That was the idea." The pink haired woman spoke up as she walked over and stood beside him.

"What?" The pilot asked surprised.

She looked over at him "Sanctum logic." She continued. "They conjured up the Purge to eliminate a threat." She kneeled by the sides of the platform and then stood back up as she spoke "I mean- why carry the danger all the way to Pulse? Why not just stamp it out here? Execution masquerading as exile. That's all the Purge ever was."

The old man sighs, lets out a breathy chuckle and turns away from her. "'Relocation to Pulse.' How does a government get away with pulling crap like that?" He says as he started to pace, obviously angered. I just sat there in a state of shock, processing what I've just heard.

"And you- you knew this was gonna happen?" He asks addressing the former soldier, who shakes her head. "The Purge was PSICOM. Private Sanctum troops, not the Guardian Corps." She clarifies crossing her arms.

"PSICOM, Guardian Corps… Soldiers are soldiers, aren't they?" He continued. "Pulse fal'Cie, and their l'Cie, are enemies of the state. Tell a soldier to kill an enemy… and you really think it's gonna matter what uniform he's wearing?"

"Might have mattered to that one." She replied. I looked over at the dead soldier on the floor close by as she spoke. "Couldn't shoot, got himself shot instead."

They both walked over to the edge of the platform. "How about you? Hmm? Orders say shoot, you pull the trigger?" The man asked the former soldier. "Fine, forget I asked." He says throwing his hands in the air when she remained silent.

I turned my head to the side when the zooming of a flying object reached my ears. "Wait… What-" The pink haired woman started but cut herself off, her gunblade in hand. I stood up when the thing flew over our heads and turned around towards us. Reaching for the gun the former pilot had given me I studied the Myrmidon before us.

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Battle theme: Blinded by light._

The Myrmidon attacked first, moving its rotating arm towards the pilot, who was barely able to dodge. The thing was incredibly fast considering how big it was. The former soldier ran towards the Myrmidon as it was backing up from just attacking the man, to strike it on one of its legs. The Myrmidon turned towards the pink haired woman and raised its arm to hit her. The woman flipped over it and fell into a crouch. She then struck the Myrmidon with her weapon a few times before putting distance between them again. As the opponent trashed a little in anger I took the opportunity and aimed at its head.

'**BANG, BANG!'**

The bullets flew towards the Myrmidon's head, but at the last minute it raised its other arm to shield itself. It turned seeing as I had just attacked him and lunged towards me. I started shooting at it, but it shielded itself with its arm, the bullets bouncing off of the shield. It raised its other arm to strike me when the ex-pilot shoots at it hitting it on the back of the head. It stops for a moment, sparks flying out of where the bullets had just hit, but it wasn't finished yet and so it turned angrily towards the man.

The pink haired woman moved forward, closing the distance between herself and the Myrmidon. She struck it a few times with her gunblade and then did a backflip, her gunblade turning into its gun form, she fired at the Myrmidon's head hitting the center square on. I opened fire at its legs and it staggered backwards. The pink haired woman seeing an opening lunged forward and stabbed the Myrmidon in the 'chest', leaving a huge hole when she took her gunblade out. Electricity crackled out from the hole. It tried to strike her again with its arm only to stop mid-way as the ex-pilot fired at it in the head again. The lights on its face finally turned off pointing out the fact that it had broken down.

**BATTLE ENDS**

Suddenly an alarm went off. Making us look around wondering what was happening.

"What's that?" The ex-pilot asked pointing upwards.

A glowing green light emitted from the ceiling as it split open.

"_Attention Purge deportees. Attention Purge deportees. Put down your weapons and surrender immediately. Your removal is the will of the people of Cocoon." _A voice echoes around us as an airship started to lower some kind of structure surrounded by more airships from the opening in the ceiling. "_Should you attempt to flee, the Sanctum will employ every resource necessary to bring you to justice. This land is no longer your home. Cease hostilities and surrender at once." _

The old man sighed. "Just what you were looking for." He said to the pinkette crossing his arms. "Yeah, right in there." She replied nodding towards the moving structure.

"That's the…" I trailed off moving to stand beside the woman. "Yeah, the Pulse fal'Cie." The pilot finished for me.

"So, how do you figure that Pulse fal'Cie is different from the Sanctum's?" He asks the former soldier as she kneels by the sides of the platform to see which path would lead to where the airship was leading the Pulse fal'Cie. "All things been equal, I'd just as soon keep wondering." The man continues looking at his pet chocobo, who was standing on his outstretched hands. I walked over and petted it on the head slightly with the tip of my fingers. It chirped in return and I smiled. I had to admit the little chick was quite adorable. It flew over to my hands and I giggled slightly as it chirped again.

The woman backed away from the edge and looked over at us. "Time to jump." She says and then starts running. "Hey, hey! Hang on!" I heard the pilot beside me cry out, but I wasn't paying attention. My jaw drops slightly when I looked up, I was too busy cooing over how cute the chocobo was to notice what was happening and just paid attention in time to see the woman dive to her possible death.

"Oi!" I cry out as I run over to the edge along with afro. "What the- Hey!" The man shouted at her. I kept my gaze fixated on her as she was getting closer to the ground. Suddenly she snapped her fingers and a blue light spread all over her body just like before. She flipped and landed safely. A circle of blue electricity was left from where she had previously landed.

"Damn." I heard afro mutter. "That's it!" I exclaimed as I figured out what she had done and handed the man his chocobo back. "Of course, she must have used an AMP!"

"A what now?" The ex-pilot asked me as I began to pace slightly tapping my chin with my index finger. "An AMP, Antimatter Manipulation Principle. I read about it once. It enables phenomena ranging from phase-space interference to the manipulation of gravitational force." I explained excitedly.

"Uh… okay?" The man replied unsure.

"Better hurry before it wears out." I muttered. I looked over the edge again to see the device still working. I took a deep breath and dived after the pinkette. I squinted my eyes as the wind rushed by me. My heart thundered in my chest in excitement as I neared the ground. I twisted my body so I'd fall in a more comfortable way. Just when I was about to hit the ground the AMP stops my fall. I wobbled out of the circle of electricity and walked over to the pink haired woman.

"That was awesome." I commented smiling at her. Her face remained stoic. But I think I saw the hints of amusement flash in her cerulean blue eyes, but it could have just been my imagination, because as quickly as it had come, it left. We both turned our heads at the sound of screaming. I chuckled slightly as I saw the ex-pilot levitating in midair thanks to the AMP, his face close to touching the floor. The sound of light footsteps reached my ears and I turned away from the stumbling ex-pilot to see the pink haired woman running ahead. I looked back at the old man who was now walking towards me.

"Better keep up with her, hmm?" He said scratching the back of his neck. I nodded and we both started to jog to catch up with the former soldier, making our way towards the Pulse Vestige.

* * *

'**CLUNK! CLANK!' **

I only stared as the pink haired woman attacked the door that was stopping us from going any further again. The door was emitting a red glow in the form of a strange symbol.

"Still won't budge?" The pilot asked somewhat sarcastically from his place on the floor. "I think the door is winning." He added standing up.

"Why didn't I listen?" The woman seemed to be talking to herself. "Uh, beg your pardon?" The man asked confused.

She raises her hand to place it on the door, but stops and clenches her hand into a fist. "It was me. This is my fault." She continued. "Beg your pardon?" The pilot tried again.

"Cover your ears." The woman commands. "Oh, blast charge? Hold on, hold on!" The man runs past me grabbing my arm in the process, dragging me behind him. "All right, go for it! Make it happen!" He yells as we both cover our ears and waited. I turned my head slightly to see her with her hand on the door's surface, her head hanging down. With my hands still on my ears waiting for the explosion to happen, my face scrunched up into one of confusion as the door started to open.

"What the- hey! What did- how'd you open it?" He asks running over to her seeing as there was no blast charge. She ignored him and started to walk forward. "Oh well, after you!" He told her. I walked past him and turned around walking backwards. "C'mon old man!" I shouted at him with a small teasing grin on my face. "Hey!" He called after me as I ran to catch up to the pink haired woman.

We fought a few militarized units as we moved on. "If those things are still around, might be some soldiers trapped in here, too. Except they'd probably be l'Cie right now. Not even human anymore." The pilot spoke up as we walked on one of the many pathways in the Pulse Vestige. "Just Pulse l'Cie. Enemies of Cocoon. Can't show 'em any mercy." He added.

"What's gotten into you, Soldier? I thought you came for a fight." He asked the pink haired woman when he noticed a slight change in her demeanor. She stopped walking and spoke up.

"My sister…" She trailed off. "Your sister?" I asked confused.

"She's a l'Cie." She continued.

"What? A _Pulse_ l'Cie?" The man asked walking towards her. To what she nodded and continued.

"The fal'Cie has her captive. But I'll find her." My eyes widened in realization. This was why she was after the fal'Cie, it made perfect sense.

"Is she still…?" He trailed off unsure of how to finish the sentence. She huffed lightly and began to walk again. "What was her focus?" The man asks running in front of her. "When she became a l'Cie, what did the fal'Cie ordered her to do? It wasn't 'blow up Cocoon' or anything like that, was it?"

The woman looks off to the side, her pale pink bangs falling over her eyes slightly. "I didn't ask."

We looked over at another door with the same strange symbol glowing red. It flashed brighter and when it was gone the door was opened.

"Listen to me." The man spoke up again. "When a person gets cursed by a fal'Cie, they become a l'Cie. Then they get given a Focus, right? How do I put this? If they don't carry it out, l'Cie end up as one of those things." He finishes nodding at the creatures on the other side of the door.

"What I'm saying is, if your sister's gone that far…" The woman narrowed her eyes and turned her back towards him. "I, I mean-! She might still-! How can I-?" He sighed. "Oh, man. There's no way to turn a l'Cie back into a human. Even if she completes her Focus, there's no changing her fate. She'll live a life as a fal'Cie slave."

She turned to look at him, her expression a mixed of anger and pain, and looks back at the floor.

"Don't make her suffer." He continued.

Her head snapped up in an instant, her eyes narrowing into a glare. She pushed him away as she spoke.

"Just say it! Any l'Cie… Anyone who might ever become a l'Cie should be wiped off the face of Cocoon." She turns away from him and he looks down. "It's people like you that started the Purge in the first place." She finishes with another glare towards the pilot.

"So, that's a Cie'th, huh?" I asked looking over at the strange creatures before us. The pilot hummed in response to my question and we moved forward fighting off the Cie'th in our way. It's hard to believe this things use to be human.

As we went up the stairs we saw a figure in the middle of the room's floor. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. The person that laid there on the floor was a girl about 18 years old with pink hair just like the former soldier, except hers was pulled into a side-ponytail. She was wearing a red plaid pleated skirt lined with black lace, a white sleeveless dress shirt, a semi-transparent pink sweeper, black thigh-high stockings, ivory ankle boots and she also had a black armband on her right bicep, like the former soldier.

"Serah!" The pink haired woman yelled when she caught sight of the girl on the floor. She ran up to her and quickly scanned her for injuries. When she saw none, she picked her up bridal style.

"Time to go. We have to leave before the army- What?" She starts but cuts herself off when she caught the look the pilot was giving her.

"That's a Pulse brand." The pilot says nodding to the girl's branded arm. "That girl's a l'Cie."

"I already told you that" The woman replies with an annoyed look in her face, her brows knitted together.

"Pulse l'Cie are the enemy of Cocoon." The man says reaching down for one of his pistols. My eyes widened. I looked over at the woman to see her eyes widened in surprise as well before she glared at him.

"So they should die?" She asks pulling her sister towards herself for protection. "Listen, if she fails her focus, you know how that'll end." The man replies, a solemn look on his face. "And killing her is a mercy?" She asks incredulously, her eyes in a fierce glare. She stops when a hand reached over to her face. She looked down to see her sister's cerulean blue eyes open, the girl's being a slightly darker shade than the soldier.

"You came." The girl said. The pink haired woman gasped slightly and kneeled to lower the girl gently to the floor.

"Serah!" A voice called from behind us. I turned around to see a man with light blond hair, blue eyes, and a stubble beard running towards us. He was wearing a black bandanna, black gloves, large gray boots, a light blue vest over a black shirt, and a striped blue scarf hanging from a belt. He also had a long beige trench coat. "Serah." He says again taking her hand in his. "Is that… my hero?" She asked a small smile on her face. The soldier stared at the strange man with her eyes narrowed into a glare.

I heard a light gasp from behind me and then a strangely familiar voice gasp out.

"Faith?"

I froze and slowly turned around at the mention of my name. My eyes widened and my jaw fell slightly ajar. My eyes met with extremely familiar ones, said eyes the same color as my own.

"...Hope?!"

* * *

**Author's note: Yeah... I don't really know what to say about this. The battle scene totally sucked, I know. It was super hard for me for some reason. I kept playing the game to see what I could write and when I thought I had enough to start, I just stared blankly at the laptop's screen. Yeah... I'm sorry, but tell me what you think of the story so far, yeah?**


	4. Fal'Cie Anima Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII, just my OC.**

Chapter 4- Fal'Cie Anima Part 1

* * *

We stood staring at one another, his face still full of shock and confusion while mine had turned into a poker face. A girl that was standing next to him gently nudges him with her arm to pull him out of his shock. I divert my gaze from him to the girl. She had bright red hair tied in curled pigtails, green eyes, and pierced ears adorned with silver hoop earrings. Her appearance was somewhat tribal looking. She was wearing a light pink halter top, an orange and yellow skirt, beige boots and a fur pelt around her waist. She also had numerous bracelets, and three beaded necklaces, along with an assortment of beads attached to various parts of her clothing. She seemed to be in her late teens, maybe a year or two older than me.

"Is that your sister?" She asked him with a smile. I raised a bemused eyebrow when she spoke. Her voice was a little high-pitched making her sound rather childish, but somehow it fit her. She also had a strange accent. Hope shook away his shock with a shake of his head and nodded at the girl's question.

I'm not surprised she could easily tell we were siblings. After all we both had a strong resemblance to each other, our looks coming from our mother. Our hair was the same silver color, mine being longer reaching just a little above my chest and cut in layers. As I had said before, we both had the same blue-green eyes and our faces were rather similar as well, but mine was more feminine looking and I had light freckles on my cheeks and nose. I was the oldest from the two, me being sixteen and him fourteen years old. But when we were little the resemblance was so strong that some people actually thought we were twins.

I looked over at him again. He was wearing his usual outfit, a short-sleeved orange and yellow jacket with a detailed green neckerchief over a black shirt, and black gloves with white palms. He had deep green cargo pants with a black storage pack hanging from a black belt over his left leg, and light green boots.

"What are you doing here?" He asked taking a step towards me. "How did you get here? I thought you stayed with dad…" His voice turned somewhat sour at the mention of our father. "He had a last minute work trip that would take him a few days. So, he send me to Bodhum to stay with you guys for the rest of the vacation. I tried to convince him that I'd be fine on my own, but he didn't want me to stay alone in the house because of the whole l'Cie madness going on. Though I think he just didn't want to leave the house to me because he thinks I'm gonna burn it down or something..." I explained to him in a somewhat nonchalant tone putting my right hand on my hip. "As to what I'm doing here, well, I got 'purged'."

My relationship with my brother wasn't as good as it could have. We used to be really close, but I guess after dad got a promotion on his job and he was barely home, we somehow drifted apart. He got more attached to mom while I just stayed to myself and grew fond of music. I just played guitar or piano most of the time when I was home. Our conversations in the house were quite limited and they always ended in an awkward silence.

"Hands off. I'm taking her home." We all turned around at the sound of the former soldier's voice. "Sis, I-" The blonde man started but was interrupted by the pink haired woman. "I'm not your sister! You couldn't protect her. It's your fault she-"

"You can save us." "Serah?" Asked the former soldier when she was interrupted by her sister. "You can save us." Repeated the girl again. "Protect us all. Save… Cocoon." She finished weakly. "Save Cocoon? Serah? That was your Focus?" questioned the ex-soldier.

"Anything, I'll do anything. Leave it to me- you'll see. I'll protect Cocoon! I'll save everyone!" The blonde man promised. The pink haired woman glared at him before looking down at her sister. "Somehow, I'll make things right." She told her. "You just relax." Finished the blonde shooting her a small smile. She smiled weakly before she started to glow. "Serah!" the former soldier cried out as her sister's body started to levitate into the air and out of her grasp. I looked away from the scene as the girl's body started to crystallize. A lone crystalized tear escaped from her eye and fell into the blonde man's hand.

"Serah! Serah!" He cried out as he reached out to her. "Why is she turning to crystal?" The redhead now beside me asked, her hands clasped together in front of her chest. "L'Cie who fulfill their Focus are transformed into crystal and gain eternal life." Replied Hope as we all turned to look back at the scene. "Just like the stories say." Spoke up the pilot.

"Serah… Sweet dreams." The blonde man wished as the crystalized body of the girl lowered itself onto the ground. At that the pink haired woman sharply turned her head towards him.

"Sweet dreams? She's not sleeping!" She yelled at him as she grabbed the front of his shirt. "Serah's… She's-" She let go of the man's shirt unable to finish the sentence. "She's alive!" He insisted. She glared at him. "No."

"The legend! Remember the legend! L'Cie who fulfill their Focus turn to crystal and gain eternal life. It's the same with Serah! Eternal life! She's not dead!" The blonde man cried out and everyone lowered their gaze solemnly. "Serah's my bride-to-be. I promised to be hers forever!" He clenched his hand into a fist. "I don't care how many years I have to wait-" My eyes widened as the pink haired woman cut the man off by punching him in the face. "It's over! Open your eyes and face reality!" She yelled at him.

Silence followed and I turned towards Hope suddenly realizing something. "Hold on a second. Hope, if you're here, where's mom? Was she forced to board the train as well?" A pained expression flashed through his face. "I-…Mom, She's-" He started but suddenly the ground started to shake and he fell to his knees covering his ears. "What now?" The redheaded girl spoke up. "The army." The pilot answered as the ground kept shaking.

The pink haired woman and the blonde man covered the crystalized Serah with their own bodies as rocks crumbled down from the ceiling. "What's happening?" The redhead asked looking around. "I think is a Sanctum strike." I told her as I kneeled down and placed my hands on Hope's shoulders to somehow calm him down. I didn't know what else to do because of our awkward relationship. "They're going to bring down the Vestige and the fal'Cie with it!" Afro continued. "Aren't they taking it back to Pulse? That's what the Purge was, right?" The redhead asks the man holding his arms to balance each other. "All they care about is getting everything from Pulse off Cocoon. Dead or alive, it's all the same." After he said that the girl backed away from him, a slight flicker of fear in her emerald green eyes. "We can't stay here! They'll kill us!" Hope cried out gripping my arms tightly. Panic was starting to creep up on me when suddenly the shaking stopped and a door on top of a staircase opened.

"I'll be right back. Hold on." The tall blonde whispered to Serah before backing away and start towards the staircase. "Trench coat. Where you going?" The pilot called out to him. "Date with the fal'Cie. Got some things to talk about." He replied. "What? You're gonna ask _it_ to help her? Are you out of your mind, kid?" The pilot asked throwing his hands in the air. "That thing wants to chew us up and spit us out!"

"Well, what do you want me to do?!" The man exclaimed turning to look at the pilot. The pink haired woman sighed and then made her way over to the staircase. The blonde man watched her go. "Lightning?" He asked before going after her. 'Lightning? Was that her name?' I wondered as I stared at their retreating figures. "Here we go." I turned my head towards the voice to see afro shaking his head and make his way to the staircase as well. I looked up at the redhead and then down at my brother.

"C'mon, you want to talk to him, right?" The redhead asked looking at Hope smiling encouragingly before starting to make her way behind the others. I looked back at Hope as he was starting to get up. "Who do you need to talk to, Hope? What's going on? And where's mom?" He looked down at the floor as he started to shift a little and his face had the same pained expression as before, but before he could answer, the redhead turned around. "C'mon, we have to keep up, yeah? Up we go!" She said brightly. I turned to Hope again. "We'll continue this later." I told him pulling him along by his arm towards the staircase and jog after the others. A few Cie'ths were in our way, but we easily took care of them since there were more of us.

"So, this is… the fal'Cie." Hope said as we entered a dark room filled with little specks of lights, before us stood the fal'Cie Anima.

"Serah's a crystal now. You gave her a Focus, and she did it! You got what you want! Now let her go!" The blonde man exclaimed at the fal'Cie, which remained motionless. "Please." He said as he fell to his knees. "Turn her back! I'll be your l'Cie instead!"

"Fine, you go on begging." The pink haired woman now named Lightning said as she drew her gunblade from her weapon holster. "Like this thing gives a damn what we want!" She shouted attacking the fal'Cie. The clash of metal against metal echoed around the room. In one of the strikes, the weapon bounced from the fal'Cie's shield from the force of the hit.

"Lightning!" The blonde man exclaimed when the woman staggered backwards slightly. "It's this thing's fault the Purge started, and it's people who are dying." She said panting lightly. "Serah told us to save Cocoon. That means this thing needs to die!"

As she finished that sentence lights began to light up the darkened room, signaling that the fal'Cie had woken up. Tendrils began to pop out from the floor and the shield where the fal'Cie resided split open and out came a mechanical being with a glowing crystal core.

"What the-!" Afro exclaimed at the image before him. I looked at Hope to see him covering his ears. I ran towards him, grabbed his hand and made a mad dash for the exit. But we were stopped as a force field appeared out of thin air, blocking the only way out of here. I stopped just as I was about to hit the force field, but Hope wasn't really paying attention and ran right into it falling to the floor afterwards. I didn't really paid attention to him and just stared at the mark on the force field now glowing a bright red. I turned around to see the redhead run towards us and help Hope up. I looked at the others to see them with their weapons out and ready for a fight. 'I can't possibly fight this thing! I would just get in the way…" I thought gripping the pistol I had attached to my waist belt which ran diagonally to my hip. 'But I can't just stand here and do nothing.'

I made up my mind and started to make my way over to the others, but stopped when I felt a hand grip the back of my shirt. I looked behind me to see Hope looking down shaking his head slightly.

"Don't worry." I told him grabbing his wrist to make him let go. As I said that he looked up at me sharply. His face turned to one of slight surprise and his eyes glazed over as if he was having some sort of flashback as to what I said. I tilted my head in confusion before making my way over standing alongside Lightning and the freakishly tall blonde man. The latter shot me a glance from the corner of his eye. "Are you sure?" He asked me slight concern on his voice. I nodded my answer and aimed the gun at the fal'Cie.

"I hope you guys don't mind an amateur." I told them and let out a dry laugh.

* * *

**Author's note: Yeah, so I decided to leave the fight for next chapter, because I didn't feel like staring blankly at the laptop's screen today like last time. So, I'm gonna take my time to type the battle scene and make it at least decent. I just wanted to get this chapter out of the way so I can focus on how to even start the next chapter, lol. Now you know more about Faith and what she looks like…well, mostly. If you guys have questions or something about her appearance ask away and I'll answer the best way I can! :)**


	5. Fal'Cie Anima Part 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII.**

* * *

Chapter 5- Fal'Cie Anima part 2

'_This people alongside me had different reasons to fight the Pulse fal'Cie. Reasons I didn't really know. As for me, I just wanted to get out of here, take my brother, find mom and get out of this hell hole. Knowing the risks of having an encounter with this being, I had a bit of hope, that maybe, we would be lucky enough to finish it off. So, I decided to join the others and fight. I figured, if we destroyed it, the door blocking the way out would vanish and naïvely thought we would leave untouched… I couldn't have been more wrong though…'_

* * *

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Battle theme: Saber's Edge_

The blonde man was the first to move. He immediately went for Anima ignoring the two appendages at its sides. He managed to land a hit before the mechanical being slashed at him with the clawed arm attached to its body. He was pushed back gritting his teeth in pain and when he regained his composure he went in again. I shot at its crystal core along with the pilot, but it protected itself with its clawed arm.

'We can't attack it head on…' I thought as the blonde man was thrown back again. The pink haired woman, known as Lightning, was intently watching the fal'Cie's movements as it attacked us with its tendrils and kept clawing at the blonde man when he approached. The woman dashed forward towards the tendril on the left.

"Go for the manipulators!" The former soldier yelled as she attacked said object. The blonde man looked over at her and did as she said running over to her and attacking the same appendage as her. I looked over at afro and we both nodded. We attacked the manipulator on the right and dodged when it attacked us back.

We kept at it and soon, both appendages vanished. Then we turned towards Anima. The mechanical being's crystal core started glowing a clear blue. The blonde man looked over at afro and me, and nodded. We nodded back and started to shoot at the crystal core as the other too attacked it head on. I was pretty confident that we would win this over soon, until the manipulators reappeared out of thin air again. My eyes widened in surprise and I took a step back. I looked over at afro to see him with slight surprise on his face as well.

"How are we supposed to beat the damn thing if it can regenerate?" I asked out loud as the fal'Cie attacked more fiercely this time. No one answered as they went for the manipulators again. I ran a frustrated hand through my hair and turned to the manipulator on the right. I got closer to it so I could get clear shots. The thing was always moving and as afro and I kept shooting, it stopped. The pilot and I took that as cue to turn to the other manipulator to help the others out, thinking the manipulator was finished. We didn't realize the thing had started to move again and that it had started to spin dangerously with bolts of electricity dancing around it.

"Watch out!" Came the high pitched yell from the redhead who was standing by Hope watching the fight from the entrance. I looked over at her curiously to see her looking at something behind me with fear written across her face. I had enough time to see Hope with the same expression, before I was thrown sideways as the manipulator behind me made contact with my back. I landed roughly and gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of me. I curled into a ball as spasms of pain ran through my body. My vision blurred with tears and I clenched my teeth tightly.

I managed to lift my head slightly to look over at the others. The two manipulators had vanished again and they were attacking Anima's glowing crystal core. The pilot was limping slightly.

'He must have gotten hit as well.' I thought as I looked at the fighting party. They seemed a little tired, but they still fought on. I clenched my hands into fists as another spasm shot through my body. Suddenly Lightning tossed something over to the pilot, who yelled something and tossed it backwards. I followed the flying object with my eyes as it flew through the air. Then it fell on the redhead's hands, who was now running towards me.

She kneeled beside me and helped me sit up with the help of Hope. "Hnn!" I groaned as another spasm ran through me. Blood spilled from the now reopened cut on my lip. I winced as the redhead put a bottle of some strange green liquid on my mouth for me to drink.

"Here, drink this. It's healing potion, it'll help with the pain." She told me as I slowly parted my lips. The warm liquid felt nice as it went down my throat. Slowly the spasms stopped and I was able to shakily get up with the help of the two. I turned my head slowly to see the others had just finished the manipulators again and were now attacking Anima. Suddenly a bright light emitted from the fal'Cie.

**BATTLE ENDS**

When the light subsided and we were able to see again I saw we were all in a darkened room. The room was lightened by some sort of crystal. The sound of bells echoed around.

"Where are we?" I heard Lightning breathed out as I looked around. Fear and confusion took over me. It felt like we were falling.

"What's going on?" The blonde man asked in confusion as well. Then all of a sudden a light beamed from what I assumed was the floor. It shot through the crystal and out came a giant mechanical being. We all gasped as the creature floated before us.

My eyes widened in fear as glowing blue wires flew towards us. They grabbed us by the arms, waist and legs, making it impossible to get out. I struggled to break free, but it was pointless. I could only watch as another set of glowing blue cords flew towards us. One hit Lightning on the chest before she passed out. The pilot was next, the cord hitting him in the same place as the former soldier before he too passed out. Then another flew towards the blonde man and latched on to his left arm. I looked up at the being's face before one of the glowing wires flew towards me. I grunted as I struggled once again to get away. I helplessly watched as the wire came closer with great speed. I closed my eyes tightly and then felt my left hipbone begin to burn. I cried out and managed to catch a glimpse of the wires begin to glow brighter, before everything went black.

Fuzzy images began to play in my mind. I couldn't really tell what it was. The only thing I knew was that it definitely had something to do with the destruction of Cocoon.

* * *

'_When I couldn't see a future, and I was afraid… when the future was clear, and it hurt to see… I'd just close my eyes, and loose myself in happier days._

"Serah!" I heard a voice cry out. It sounded far away. I slowly cracked an eye open, then the other and stared off into space.

"Is this… for real?" I heard the voice again. I blinked and looked around me. My eyes widened at the sight. Everything was crystalized as far as I could see. 'Am I…dead?' I thought and looked at the people around me as I slowly stood up. "Nope, definitely not dead." I grumbled out loud as I caught sight of the Pulse Vestige a little far from where we were.

"This must be… Lake Bresha?" I heard the pilot's voice speak up unsure. "I guess we fell from up there, and the lake turned to crystal? Help me out here! I mean, did the fal'Cie did this? How in the world did we end up here?" He asked looking at the pink haired woman who shrugged him off before answering in an annoyed tone.

"How should I know?" I looked over at them and then up at the ceiling. I crossed my arms and thought on everything that had happened. 'How the hell did we managed to survive that kind of fall?' I thought as I started to pace slightly. I touched my lip to check if it was still bleeding, but felt nothing. It was as if there was never a cut there. I stretch a little to check if my back hurt as well, but nothing. I shrugged and dismissed the thought as I looked around again.

"We're alive. How?" I heard the redhead spoke up. I turned my head to look at her to see her kneeling on the crystallized floor with her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

"Serah!" Cried out the tall blonde almost scaring the hell out of me. "No one survives a fall from that high, not without a miracle. Serah saved us!"

"Serah?" Asked the pink haired woman, irritation in her tone. She continued "Listen, it's all your fault she got-" But she wasn't able to finish as a big crystal looking Cie'th made its way towards us.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" The pilot cried out. Lightning turned around in time to see the Cie'th raise its arm above its head, ready to strike. "Watch out!" Yelled the blonde man as he ran over to her and raised his arms to shield himself as the Cie'th took a savage swing for his head. Suddenly a blue light emitted from the blonde as he swung a punch through the Cie'th, throwing it a few feet from the force.

"What did I… just do?" The tall blonde asked as we all stared. "You used magic!" Hope exclaimed just as a pair of Cie'th wandered towards us. "You used the power of a l'Cie. The fal'Cie cursed us. We're l'Cie now!"

"Right." I heard Lightning mutter as she took her gunblade from its weapon holster, turning it into its blade form. The Cie'th that the tall blonde had punched slowly stood up and limped towards us with the other two.

I stood in front of Hope as Lightning, the blonde man and the redhead fought. The pink haired woman was commando, while the other two used magic. It was only a matter of seconds before the Cie'th were down. 'So, this is the power of a l'Cie.' I thought as I looked down at my hands. I looked up to see the blonde man staring at his left arm.

"So we really are l'Cie." He said, making the pink haired soldier roll her eyes. The pilot sighed making me look over at him. On his chest was the Pulse l'Cie brand. "Looks like it." He muttered looking down at his chest.

"You too?" The blonde asked looking towards the redhead. "Yep, right here." She answered and lifted her skirt enough to show the brand on her left thigh.

"Okay." The blonde muttered awkwardly. I looked down at myself to see were my brand could be. Then I remembered that before I blacked out my left hipbone had burned. I lifted my shirt slowly and lowered my pants a little, enough to see the hipbone. The hand holding my shirt clenched tightly as I caught sight of the brand.

"L'Cie to the last." The pink haired woman said just as Hope fell to his knees.

"Why me?" Hope said looking down. He then looked up sharply at the pink haired woman, who only crossed her arms as he yelled. "I don't even know you! But you have to go and attack that thing?" He looked around at the others, who only looked away from him guiltily. I approached him and moved to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Just leave me alone!" He shouted shrugging my hand away. "It's your fault- it's your fault my-! You could've-" He trailed off clenching his fist, before standing abruptly. My eyebrows knitted together as I looked at him. Angered flashed in his light blue green eyes as he glared directly at the blonde man. "All of this is your and Serah's fault!"

"Watch it!" The blonde man exclaimed, making Hope fall on his butt. He started to crawl backwards and stopped when his back came in contact with something. He looked up from his place on the floor, only to see Lightning glaring at him with her hands crossed across her chest. He moved away from her, obviously scared and placed his hands over his ears.

"Sorry." The blonde man said addressing the cowering Hope. The redhead moved forward and placed her hands on Hope's shoulders.

"Everything is going to be all right. You'll see." She told him in a reassuring tone, smiling at him before helping him up. I stared at them and huffed when they began to walk away.

'I can't believe he would actually listen to her and not his own sister…' I thought bitterly, and then sighed. 'I can't blame him though. I've never actually been there for him…'

"Okay," Started the pink haired woman. "If we don't know our Focus, how do we complete it?" We all looked at her before the redhead spoke up.

"I think… I saw it." She said looking down. The pink haired woman turned towards her. "Saw what?"

"That is how a Focus comes down, people." The pilot began. "The fal'Cie? They don't spell it out with clear-cut instructions. All you get is a hazy glimpse." We all turned towards him suspiciously, wondering how he would know such things. "Well, that's what they say. You know, legends and all." He continued putting his hands on his hips. The pink haired woman turned towards Hope and me.

"Did you see anything?" She asked us. I looked over at Hope as he began to speak.

"I uh- I just… It's all kind of foggy, but… I saw this big- I mean _towering_-" He trailed off. I looked at him with my eyebrows knitted together thoughtfully. I turned towards the pink haired woman. "I... I think I saw the same thing."

"W-wait a minute." We all turned towards the pilot as he spoke up. "Hold on now. Did we _all _have the same dream?"

"Ragnarok." The blonde man and Lightning said simultaneously. I clenched my head slightly, feeling a headache coming on as the images from the dream came back.

"So we all saw the same dream." Spoke up the pilot. "We all heard that same voice." The redhead and I nodded at the pilot's words as Hope spoke up. "You mean _that _was our Focus? But, how are we supposed to know what to do from that?"

"That's the tricky part." I heard the redhead's accented voice beside me. "The dreams are the only hint the fal'Cie gives us. Figuring out what to do with it- that's our job!"

"Okay, okay…" The pilot said starting to pace slightly. "We're Pulse l'Cie, right? Enemies of Cocoon! So, does that mean that our Focus is-? Are we supposed to-?"

"Save her." Interrupted the tall blonde. "Say what?" Afro asked, clearly confused. "Our Focus is to protect Cocoon."

"Really? Okay, why's that?" The redhead asked him lifting a hand to her chin.

"Serah told us." He answered. "Let's do it. We're all in this together. I'm gonna look for Serah. She ought to be nearby." He finished before running off.

"I'll come too." The redhead yelled running after him. "Wait!"

"Geez! That boy can't stand still!" The pilot said scratching the back of his head as he started to make his way after the other two.

"Really…" Hope agreed before he too started to go after the others. He stopped and shot a look at Lightning, who crossed her arms turning away. I went after Hope and stopped him by taking a hold of his arm.

"We need to talk." I told him seriously, looking into his slightly fearful eyes.

* * *

**Author's note: Okay! I'm stopping it there. So, I have a quick question! Who do you want Faith to go with when the group splits up? Let me know what you want and how the chapter was, yeah? :D... Please point out any errors I might have!**


	6. A vision shared

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy.**

**Quick Author's note: I listened to Kanade from Angel beats while I wrote the first part of the story before the fight. You can listen to it if you want. I just thought I'd let you know. *scratches back of the head awkwardly* It makes it more emotional if you do :D**

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Chapter 6- A vision shared

There was a moment of silence as I thought on how to start the conversation. No sound was heard as we stood there on the crystallized, Lake Bresha. Hope shifted his weight nervously from one foot to another. His eyes never leaving the ground as I clenched and unclenched my teeth. I sighed as I ran a hand through my silver hair.

"Hope?" He flinched slightly at the mention of his name. He looked up at me with pained and slightly scared eyes, making me frown and nervously avert my gaze. "I- uh, what-…" I let out a frustrated groan when I floundered for words. 'Why is this so hard?' I questioned myself as my left eyebrow twitched slightly. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Where's mom? She was with you, right?" I said keeping my voice steady. Hope looked down clenching his hands into fists.

"I-, she-… mom is-…" His voice wavered as he talked. Anxiety was beginning to grow within me as I waited for him to continue. Hope's shoulders shook slightly. My heartbeat picked up as I dreaded the answer. After a long pause he took in a deep breath. "Mom is… dead." He said quietly, his voice cracking in the end. I froze. I could only stare at him with wide eyes, my mind completely blank. My heart felt like it had stopped, my chest involuntarily tightening.

"No…" Tears began to well up in my eyes as I shook my head furiously, taking a step back. Hope returned his pain filled gaze back to the floor. I gritted my teeth tightly, swallowing the lump in my throat. I couldn't breathe properly.

"I-I tried to stop her, but she – She said it would be okay. I-…" Hope began to explain. His voice breaking with every word he said. "She said not to worry- That everything would be fine!"

"Hope, stop…" I choked out not wanting to hear it, but it was pointless. The boy was too far into it.

"-But it wasn't! And I- I could only watch as she-" His shoulders shook violently now. "I could only watch as she fell!"

"Enough!" I raised my voice so that he would hear me, but it didn't seem to reach his ears.

"I- It's his fault!" Hope yelled. "It's his fault mom is-… It's- He could've-"

"Stop it!" I shouted pushing him by his shoulders, making him fall onto the crystallized floor. I couldn't take it anymore. It was too much. Hope's eyes were wide as he looked up at me from his place on the ground. I turned away from him as tears slowly made their way down my cheeks. I took in a shaky breath trying to control myself and wiped the tears away with the back of my hand.

My mother was gone. The thought echoed painfully in my head. The world seemed to be spinning now. 'First I get turned into a l'Cie and now this?' I grasped my head painfully, closing my eyes tightly and biting my bottom lip to keep any sobs in.

Anger boiled inside of me now. 'If they hadn't gone to watch those stupid fireworks none of this would've happened'. My hands shook as I closed them into tight fists. Suddenly I hear a cry, breaking me from my train of thoughts. I turned my head to look at where the sound had come from and froze when I saw that a Cie'th was slowly making its way towards me and Hope. The silver headed boy began to crawl backwards, cornering himself into a wall. I took my gun out and aimed at the much taller Cie'th.

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Battle theme: Blinded by light_

I began to shoot at the Cie'th in anger. The bullets flew right to its crystal looking shoulders. The monster wailed and made its way towards me, lifting an arm to strike me. I rolled out of the way and put distance between me and the Cie'th. The advantage I had over this monster was that its movements were quite slow, making it easier to dodge.

I looked over at Hope to see him still on the floor looking at the Cie'th with fearful eyes. When I looked back at the Cie'th my eyes widened. The Cie'th began to make its way towards the fear stricken Hope and the boy only stared, not moving a single muscle. I shot at the monster's back to slow it down, but that only seemed to anger it more instead of hurting it. Frustrated, the Cie'th turned towards me and wailed. And then the next thing I knew, a fireball was flying towards me. I grunted as I landed on my side after barely missing the attack. I gritted my teeth as my head felt like it was spinning. Slowly, I stood back up, only to throw myself backwards letting out a yelp as the Cie'th swung its arm to where my head used to be. 'When did it get this close?' I though moaning in pain and closing my eyes tightly as my back made contact with the floor.

My eyes widened when I reopened them. The Cie'th was looming over me, its arms raised above its head. I quickly took the gun, aimed at its face, or what I assumed was its face, and pulled the trigger. But nothing came out. I glared at the gun confused and then looked at the Cie'th with a panicked gaze as its arm began to fall towards me with great speed. I managed to roll to the side and began to hit the gun so it would work, but cursed when I realized it was out of ammo. My heartbeat thundered in my chest. 'Of course it would be out of ammo now…' I thought angrily as I stood back up. Suddenly a boomerang was shot at the monster's head, making it cry out in pain or in frustration. I couldn't really tell. I followed the boomerang with my eyes as it flew back to its owner, only to realize the weapon was Hope's Airwing. The boy was shuddering in fear as he grasped the weapon tightly.

The Cie'th turned towards him. The monster threw a fireball at the silver haired boy, whose eyes widened in fear. My own eyes widened as well. Hope was petrified in place, the projectile rapidly making its way towards him. Cursing, I ran over and tackled him to the ground to avoid the hit, when I stood back up the Cie'th shot another fireball. Gritting my teeth as I thought on what to do, I glared slightly at Hope, who didn't meet my gaze. My mind was completely blank. I lifted my hands to protect myself as I waited for the attack. Suddenly a yellow glow caught my eye. With my hands still lifted in front of me, I looked down at myself. My eyes widened as I noticed the glow was coming from my branded hipbone. The only thought now running in my head was to somehow push away the ball of fire. Before I knew what was happening a gust of wind shot from my open palms towards the incoming projectile. When the two collided a small explosion was heard.

I looked down at my shaky hands in shock. I looked over at Hope to see him with the same expression before turning to face the Cie'th, who was slowly making its way towards us. I tried to do what I had done earlier again, but I didn't know how to do it. I raised my hands in front of me, but nothing came out.

'What should I do now?' I asked myself as the Cie'th approached us. My head felt like it was spinning. With the creature now in front of me I did the first thing that popped into my head, punch it. I threw my hand back and let out an angered cry as I delivered a solid punch to the thing's abdomen. I smirked slightly as I heard a crack. The satisfied look in my face slowly melted into an agonized one.

"GAAHH!" I screamed as pain shot through my right hand. I cradled the injured hand towards my chest, taking a few steps back and fell to my knees as I looked at where I had punched, grimacing as it appeared untouched. My hand screamed in protest as I moved it. It was probably broken. My head snapped up sharply when I heard the creature wail again and swung its arm to take a savage swing at Hope and me. I closed my eyes as I waited for the hit.

'**Crack!'**

I opened my eyes hesitantly, only came to face to face with the point of a blade. I blinked owlishly.

**BATTLE ENDS**

"What…?" I breathed out, confused. The blade was taken out from the Cie'th. The now dead creature disappeared into thin air, making the person who had deliver the final blow visible.

It was Lightning! The woman just stood there with her usual stoic face after she seethed her gunblade. She gave us a side glance, her arms crossed across her chest. I heard Hope inhale sharply, clearly intimidated by the pink haired woman, before he began to go after the others with his head hanging down. I watched him go with a frown as I stood up, remembering what he had just told me about mom. I wasn't going to cry. I blinked away the tears that were starting to form in my eyes and was about to wipe my eyes with my hand, but the sharp pain that shot across it stopped me from doing so. A soft whimper escaped my lips and I looked down at my hand. An ugly purple bruise was making itself visible on my knuckles.

"Tch." I heard Lightning click her tongue in annoyance, making me look at her. Her hand had disappeared into her leg pouch as she looked for something. I curiously look at her, cradling my hand in my chest.

"Here." She said after fishing a bottle of potion out of her pouch. Shocked I slowly took the bottle with my other hand, thanking her as I did so. She let out an irritated sigh and began to walk up the hill to where the others were.

I stared at her retreating form before eagerly drinking the potion to relief me of the pain. As the throbbing pain on my hand and back slowly subsided to a tingly sensation, I jogged to catch up with the others. I won't be able to use my right hand now as it is most probably broken. The potion helps with the pain but it can't fix a broken hand like that. I sighed as I reached the clearing where the others were and leaned on one of the crystallized walls to regain my breathing.

"We fight it! Ragnarok!" The blonde man exclaimed clenching his hand into a fist. He jumped from the ice structure he was on and continued. "That's the reason we're l'Cie. To stop it- to keep Cocoon save!"

"Yeah, why don't you give us one reason to believe that? One reason." The pilot asked him holding up a finger.

"Serah." The tall blonde stated. "She said to protect Cocoon, and then she turned to crystal. That's the proof right there. She completed her Focus! That means ours is to save Cocoon. Serah's fal'Cie was the same as ours. Our Focus has got to be the same. We were chosen to be guardians, to defeat Ragnarok! It makes sense!"

That made me stop to think. Serah did turn to crystal after she said to protect Cocoon. But why would Pulse fal'Cie give that kind of Focus? I pushed away from the wall and stood beside Lightning.

"The hell it does!" The pilot exclaimed throwing his hands into the air. "You're grasping at straws, son! Pulse fal'Cie are Cocoons enemies. We just got recruited by one of them." Walking towards the tall blonde, the pilot continued. "If I were a betting man… I'd put us on the other side."

"So, Serah's an enemy too? Well I don't buy it!" The tall blonde snapped at afro before walking in Lightning's direction. "We have the power to save Cocoon. If we work together and carry out our Focus- "

The blonde was interrupted by Lightning when she took out her gunblade and pressed it to his throat.

"Our Focus?" The former soldier asked incredulously. "The fal'Cie took Serah from us, and you want to help it? Whose side are you on?"

"Freeze!" We all gasped as a group of PSICOM soldiers stood in front of us. The sound of weapons reloading made me turn around and I noticed we were surrounded. Two soldiers stood behind us.

"Place your hands behind your heads!" One of them ordered. We all hesitantly did as they said. Lightning though, only threw her gunblade in front of her sighing.

"You fall of the Purge train?" One of the soldiers asked sarcastically, walking towards us with his gun resting on his shoulder. "Maybe." Lightning answered, nonchalantly putting her hands behind her head. This resulted in the PSICOM soldier marching towards her angrily and pointing his gun in her face. "Are you talking back to me? Huh?!"

'Oh, crap…' I thought as I saw the woman tilt her head to look at the soldier, her lips coiling into a dangerous smirk. The PSICOM soldier, not realizing what he was getting himself into, pressed the gun closer to the pink haired woman's face. "Huh?!"

"Nice gun." The woman replied sarcastically before easily disarming the soldier. She elbowed him in his masked face and then proceeded to pull the man's feet from under him. She flipped him over and sent him flying towards the troop of soldiers with a kick. The troops were startled as they didn't expect the woman to lash out like she did.

"Stop her! Freeze!" The soldiers exclaimed after regaining their composure, and pointed their weapons at the woman. Lightning stepped on the handle of her gunblade, sending it flying in the air. She jumped up, and as if in slow motion, she took a hold of the gunblade. She turned her body in midair and fell into a perfect crouch, thrusting her weapon into the soldier in front of her. She then, seeing as she was surrounded, ran out of the circle of men to put distance between them. When she stopped she did a hand motion for them to come at her.

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Battle theme: Blinded by light_

Seeing as I couldn't possibly fight because of my injured hand, I just opted for standing to the side, and watch with Hope and the old man. The tall blonde and the redheaded girl stood beside Lightning to help her out. The pink haired woman wasted no time and got into action. She easily took one of the soldiers out by pushing her weapon into his chest. She whirled around when she sensed one of them come at her from behind. She quickly slashed the gunblade on the man's abdomen and turned to another soldier.

I turned my head to look at the other two, who were holding their own pretty well. They were casting magic spells to any soldier approaching them. I looked down at my uninjured hand and wondered how I had done that aero spell before. I looked at the fighting trio and back at my hand. I aimed at a soldier expecting something to happen, but nothing. 'How the hell does this work?' I asked myself letting out a frustrated grunt.

"Blizzard!" I heard the redhead cry out and an ice spell shot from her hand towards a soldier. Seeing what the redhead had done. I knew what I had to do. But instead of saying it, I concentrated hard on the word the redhead had cried out. 'Blizzard, blizzard, blizzard.' I kept chanting in my head. Suddenly, ice shot from my open palm to the unsuspecting soldier I was aiming at earlier. The spell froze the man's upper body. Lightning saw this and ran at him, cutting the man in half with her weapon. She then took out the last soldier slashing his torso with the gunblade.

**BATTLE ENDS**

"I thought they'd be tougher than that." The pilot commented leaning down to look at one of the dead soldiers. "These guys are PSICOM, yeah? Supposed to be cream-of-the-crop." He added waving a hand in front of the dead soldier's face. The redhead stood beside him, her hands in a strange gesture and her eyes closed.

"Yeah, but PSICOM's an anti-Pulse task force." The tall blonde responded, walking over to the two. "Haven't fought a war in centuries. Bunch of rookie troops swinging around overpriced toys."

"So, from what you're telling me, it sounds like a regular old soldier… has got more training than special forces." The pilot stated.

"Nothing for us l'Cie to be afraid of." The tall man replied in a confident manner.

"Cut the crap." Lightning snapped at the blonde. "Their grunts might be green, but PSICOM's elites are cold-blooded beasts. They hit the field and it's game over."

The tall man and Lightning stared at each other. The blonde appeared to be shocked at what the woman had said, while the former soldier just glared at him. I took in a shaky breath as my injured hand began to remind me of its state. The potion's effect were starting to wear off.

"Oh-oh! Then let's run away! Ciao!" The redhead exclaimed cheerily and took a hold of my wrist as she went past me. I winced lightly at the contact, but the redhead didn't seem to notice.

"Hey-wait!" The pilot exclaimed lifting a hand after us. "What's a man to do?" I heard him mutter before he started walking behind us. I gritted my teeth as the potion's effect wore off and the pain was now evident. The redhead must have felt me tense up, and she stopped to look at me.

"Are you okay?" She asked me, concern laced into her accented voice. I looked down at my hand and she followed my gaze. I heard her gasp loudly when she caught sight of my purple hand, and she immediately let go.

"I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologized. She took a hold of my hand again and lifted it up towards her face to get a better look. I winced as pain shot through it. My face scrunched up in confusion when the redhead smiled and her free hand hovered above my injured hand. Suddenly, her hand started to glow blue and the purple hue in my hand began to subside along with the pain. Shocked, I slowly moved my fingers and didn't feel anything. It was as if the injury never happened.

"Thank you." I told her, a genuine smile on my face. She nodded and smiled back with her eyes closed, before turning on her heel and beginning to walk. I clenched and unclenched my hand as I followed after her, the others quickly catching up. As we all regrouped again the blonde man spoke up.

"Weird isn't it? Of all the messed up ways to meet… Might as well make introductions. I'm Snow. Snow Villiers. Short stuff?" The blonde addressed Hope.

"Hope. Hope Estheim." Snow nodded and then looked at me expectantly. "I'm… Faith Estheim." I told him, a small smile on my lips. He smiled back at me as the redhead spoke up. "What about her?" She asked nodding towards Lightning.

"Bodhum Security Regiment. She goes by 'Lightning'." Snow answered her, crossing his arms across his chest. "Last name's Farron. First? Anybody's guess. What about you?"

"Vanille." The redhead told him with a smile.

"Sazh Katzroy. Good to meet you." The pilot said nodding as he watched Vanille and Hope walk ahead. "It's not right. Why'd kids have to get dragged into this?" He asked sighing.

"I'll keep the kids out of trouble." Snow spoke up pointing a finger towards himself. Sazh laughed slightly, placing a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Problem with that is, you're one of them."

"Hey." Snow said, somewhat offended. I chuckled as I walked past him, before Sazh spoke up again. "Trying to take on the Pulse fal'Cie, that was our first mistake. Should've left it to the Sanctum."

I tuned out of the conversation when Vanille turned around and started to jump enthusiastically, waving her hand. 'Seriously, how can she be this perky with all the things that happened?' I thought raising an amused eyebrow. She then took Hope's hand and made him wave with her. 'Being that carefree… must be nice.'

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**Author's note: Another chapter! Yay! I would've update sooner, but school... yeah. Well, the group splits up in next chapter. I thought I'd wait another chapter just in case someone else wanted to say who they wanted Faith to go with. Please review and let me know... I seriously don't like asking for reviews. It makes me feel really awkward, but I want to know how I'm doing. So, please leave a review! I'm a nice person! lol.**

** Oh, well... Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry if it ended all crappy. I'll probably edit it later. I'm not really sure if it's all good, because I finished writing it at 3 am and posted it. I know it's kind of irresponsible to just put the chapter out without revising it, but my mom will most likely take my laptop away and I don't know when I'll be able to update ._. (She'll probably forget about it in the morning though... My mom's crazy like that XD)**

**So, did you guys liked the 'nice gun' thing? :D I tried to make it as cool as possible, cause that's one of my favorite parts in the game. Lightning's such a badass! XD**


	7. Partings and Promises

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII**

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Chapter 7- Partings and Promises

"_Outside the dream world, life can be harsh, even cruel, but it is life…"_

* * *

"The train fell down too. I wonder what else is down here…" I heard the redhead's accented voice as we were now walking on top of the fallen Purge train. We had fought already a few Cie'th along with PSICOM soldiers and Breshan Bass… man those things were ugly. But with this much fighting I've been getting the hang of magic, it sometimes goes all over the place, but it's not as bad as in the beginning.

I was walking behind Lightning when suddenly, she stopped and I heard her gasp quietly. Confused, I tried to follow her gaze, squinting my eyes at the crystal structure. A gasp escaped my lips as I realized who it was.

"Serah." Lightning said as she began to make her way over to her crystallized sister, but Snow beat her to it.

"Serah! I'll get you out of there!" The tall blonde stated, taking a hold of the girl's hand. He moved away from the girl to take a chunk of metal nearby. Kneeling in front of Serah, he started digging her out of her crystal prison. Soon, Sazh and Vanille got down on their knees and picked away at the crystal.

I silently debated with myself whether I should help them out or not. The girl was a crystal now, what was he planning to do after he got her out? Carry her all the way to wherever we were going? I sighed quietly, this whole thing was making me a little too insensible… Finally deciding to help out, I began to look around for something to use, but stopped when I heard Lightning speak, barely audible.

"This is good-bye."

I looked over at her as she turned away and started to walk off. My eyebrows knitted together in confusion and I was about to follow, when I heard Snow's voice from behind me.

"Lightning? You're just gonna leave her?" He asked incredulously.

"PSICOM will be here soon. If they find us, we're all dead. You think Serah would want that? You think you know how she feels?" The pink haired woman replied and started walking again.

"If I leave her, then I'll never know." Snow called after her, making her stop. "We'll be fine. I can handle anything they throw at us. No one will die. I'll protect Serah. And Cocoon!"

I cringed when the woman turned to face him. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously and her lips pursed into a thin line. Stiffening as she walked past me, I turned to see what her next move would be. She stopped in front of the man and glared at him for a moment before, throwing her hand back and knocking the man down with a punch to the face. I flinched slightly when the man hit the ground.

"Does she look protected to you?" The woman glared down at him.

Snow looked at her from the ground, before standing up stubbornly. "I can save her!" But he was thrown back down by another punch from Lightning.

"What can you possibly do?"

"Whatever it takes!" The blonde man stated, about to stand up again. Lightning's fist loosened at the statement, before she faced away from him, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You two are hopeless." The pilot spoke up, putting his hands behind his head as he walked away. I followed after him, remembering that I still had his gun. "You just can't admit it. You want to stay as much as he does." The man said as he looked at Lightning.

"Thank you…" I told him, stretching the hand holding the pistol towards him. He looked at me curiously. "It uh… ran out of ammo..." I told him somewhat embarrassed, a small blush tinting my cheeks. He chuckled as he took a hold of the gun and lightly ruffled my hair.

Suddenly a bright light fell upon the pilot. I blinked and followed where the light was emitting from. I twitched as I caught sight of the first Militarized Unit I had ever fought.

"No… no! No, no, no, not now!" The pilot screamed as he ran back to the others, dragging me behind him.

"Damn, how many times do we have to kill the _same_ freaking machine?!" I hissed as the thing jumped down and turned to face us. Vanille shot me a curious look, before taking her weapon out.

I stepped forward, but stopped when Snow held his arm out. "Stand back!"

**AFTER BATTLE**

We all stared at where the Militarized Unit used to be, until Lightning turned on her heel and walked away, but Snow stood in her way.

"You're leaving?"

"We want to help Serah too." The old man spoke up sighing. "But without tools… we could be digging for days. The army's on our trail. For now, we've got to keep moving. For now."

"So I just abandon her, and save myself?"

"What about your focus?" Lightning asked him, making him gasp quietly. "What happened to banding together and saving the world? Isn't that what you promised? Now you want to forget it all and die right here? Snow? You're nothing but talk."

Snow kept his gaze on the ground as the woman faced away from him and started walking. He gritted his teeth. "Lightning!" He called after her, tightening his hands into fist. "I'll do whatever it takes. I'll finish this Focus… _and _keep Serah safe. That's my promise." He said, finally lifting his gaze from the ground, a determined look in his eyes.

"Great job so far." The woman coldly replied and walked off.

Sazh sighed as he stood before Snow, who shot him a smile. "Stay out of trouble." The old man sighed again and placed a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "You too."

Snow turned to face us and pointed behind himself. "Get going." Vanille looked over at Hope slightly, before doing as the man said. "Later." He told her as she passed by him. "Okay."

Hope ran after her but stopped suddenly. He turned back around and moved to stand in front of Snow.

"Snow…" He trailed off.

"Save it for next time, kiddo." He winked at him. "You'll get left behind." Hope instantly reacted and looked at where the others had gone through. "But…"

"It's okay, Hope. Light will take care of you. We'll meet again." The tall blonde told him, grinning down at him.

"Yeah. Count on it…" The boy muttered, before going after the others. Snow looked at me next, questioningly. He was probably wondering why I hadn't gone after my brother. I awkwardly shifted under his gaze and shook my head.

"Aren't you…?" Snow only blinked as I turned away from him and made my way over to Serah. I took a stick of metal from the floor and wordlessly began to pick at the girl's crystal prison. I felt Snow's stare on me a little longer before he too joined me.

"Are you sure? You still have time to catch up with them…" I heard him grunt out as he picked away at the crystal. I stopped for a moment and looked over at him. Feeling my stare, he turned his head slightly to face me.

"I- I don't… uh…" I trailed off unsure of why I didn't want to go with my brother. Some sister I am. I looked down as I racked my brain for an answer, my eyebrows knitted together and I chewed nervously on my bottom lip. 'Is it because… I don't want to face him? Or…' Snow stopped digging when he saw the troubled expression on my face and spoke in a reassuring tone.

"It's okay. You'll see him soon enough! Don't worry, we'll get Serah out of here, and we'll catch up with the others in no time! We'll finish this Focus, and you'll be home in time for dinner." He winked at me and turned to dig again. I felt my lips twitched into a small smile. This guy's attitude was a little contagious I thought as I began to dig as well, a little bit of hope burning in my chest.

* * *

I wasn't sure how long we've been digging, but soon my arms gave out. I panted as I sat down to rest and looked over at Snow. The man hadn't even stopped once. My gaze swiveled towards Serah's crystal and I grimaced when it didn't seem like we were doing any progress. Suddenly the zooming of airships reached my ears. I took in a sharp breath as a spotlight fell upon us. Snow barely acknowledge this and kept digging.

'_Sweep team to base. L'Cie spotted. I repeat, l'Cie spotted. Pulse l'Cie confirmed.' _I heard a voice echoed from the airships and raised a hand to cover my eyes as another spotlight fell upon us.

"You gonna lend me a hand, or what?" Snow asked, when he stood up. Just then, troops of soldiers jumped down from the airships and threw AMPs to soften their falls. '_Commencing cleanup protocol.' _

"Cleanup? Let me help!" Snow exclaimed as he threw the chunk of metal he was digging with and killed off two soldiers in the process. "Stand back! I got this!" He told me as I slowly got to my feet. He ran towards the troop of soldiers and jumped on one of them. I gulped when more soldiers jumped down from the ships. 'He's gonna get himself killed at this rate…' A determined look took over my features and I walked up to stand beside Snow.

The soldiers shot at him mercilessly, but the bullets barely did anything to stop him. He attacked the soldiers with his fists, while I shot magic spells to whoever approached me. We had managed to wipe off quite a few, but they were just too many. We were both panting, but Snow had gotten it worse as he was attacked more than I was.

I could only watch as he fell to his knees breathlessly. A confused frown slowly made its way to my face when the man's brand began to glow.

"What's he doing? Watch yourself!" The soldiers exclaimed, backing away as a blue orb with strange symbols began to grow before Snow. "Stay alert!"

The orb kept steadily growing, until it broke and out came… two robotic-like women? What the hell? My eyes widened when they easily disposed of the troops. 'This must be... eidolons?'

"Cool! They're on our side!" I exclaimed as my lips coiled up into a small smile. Spoke too soon. My face fell as the floating, look alike women turned to face us.

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Battle theme: Eidolons_

The two women started by casting some kind of spell on Snow. I cringed when one of the women attacked. She threw a glowing blue tire at Snow. The hit lifted him into the air and then he fell, hitting the ground with a loud thud. I quirked a bemused eyebrow when the other one shot him a cure spell. What kind of sick joke is this? Are they trying to kill him or just torture him?

Angered by this, I began to cast any spell that came to my mind. I thanked The Maker when they hit its target, but regretted it when the two turned towards me. The one with the tire lifted said object and began to glow as if she was charging or something. I took the chance and kept performing fire spells. Snow stood up and attacked the woman as well. Suddenly the tire was headed towards me. I tried to dodge, but it was too fast. I let out a cry when the spinning wheel made contact with my stomach. Then the same woman moved forward and lifted the tire, and me in the process. When I fell to the ground she made a spinning gesture and the wheel started spinning. A burning sensation went through my abdomen, but it quickly vanished when the other one shot me a cure spell.

I stood up shakily and watched as Snow got into Sentinel mode and brought the enemies' attention towards himself. When the woman shot him the tire, it bounced off his crossed arms. Since the women's attention were on Snow I shot elemental spells at the aggressive one.

The woman with the wheel attacked Snow with a strong blizzard spell. But he was able to dodge to the side, a big ice structure taking his place. I stared at the towering mountain of ice, before returning my gaze to the fight to see Snow trying to provoke the woman into attacking him. She seemed unfazed by this though, and kept her steady beat of attacks, with Snow lifting his arms up into a Steelguard to prevent the woman from hurting him too much.

Soon, with Snow changing between Commando and Sentinel while I just stayed with Ravager, the women stopped attacking.

**BATTLE ENDS**

I stared as the two woman transformed into some sort of bike and then vanished into thin air and went back to Snow's crystal. The man's brand glowed as he fell to his knees once again. I sat down beside him, panting out of exhaustion and placing my head on top of my knees as he laid down.

"The Twin Sisters." An accented feminine voice reached my ears, making me lift my head slowly. "I've got to hand it to you for taking 'em down, but don't gloat just yet. Might come a time you wish you'd let 'em end it, and make things easy."

I slowly turned my head to face the owner of the voice, and came face to face with the point of a red spear. I lifted my gaze from the weapon and my light blue-green eyes met jade green ones. The woman with bronze skin tilted her head, raising two amused eyebrows. Behind me, I heard Snow sat up.

"More of you, huh?"

My gaze broke away from the woman with wavy dark brown hair with a braid behind her left ear, to see more soldiers behind her. "They're l'Cie. Take them." One of the men steeped forward and pointed a gun at us.

"Back off." Snow said, as he moved an arm in front of me protectively.

"You want to keep breathing? Shut up and come quiet." The woman said as she lifted Snow's chin up. The tall blonde jerked his head away from the woman and then got knocked out when the woman elbowed him in the face.

She looked at me next and inched closer. Instinctively, I backed away from her. Having the worst idea I could ever have, I lifted a hand to shoot a fire spell at her. It didn't work as I wanted to though. The woman must have anticipated my next move and took a hold of my wrist. She shook her head, her lips coiling into a smirk, and motioned for the soldiers to come at me. Panicking, I tried to kick the woman away, but she only dodged or blocked my attacks sighing.

"Alright, I tried to make things easy, but I guess you want to go like the big oaf over there." I looked once more into her eyes and glared. The last thing I saw was her eyebrows quirking in amusement before everything went black.

* * *

**Author's note: Well, it's been a while... Man, I- uh... I don't even know what to say... School's being keeping me busy, yeah? Aaaand... I was maybe focusing a little more on my other story... *looks away embarrassed* I'm so sorry! *bows low at the waist***

**Oh! I also donated blood recently! I was fine after the first two hours and I ate like a pig for lunch later! But then I got all dizzy and my vision was getting a little dark around the edges, and my paranoid mind started making up things about how I was gonna die of loss of blood or something... And today I had to leave school early cause I was still a little dizzy... But I had time to finish this! I had actually typed it like a week ago, but forgot about it, lol.**

**Anywho... the chapter is finally out! Snow won! yay! Sorry to those who didn't get who they wanted Faith to go with but I was going with votes, whoever got more votes wins so, yeah... But you will have another chance to vote who you want her to go with since the group splits up again later on! Thank you for those who reviewed, followed and favorited! (Yes, I am well aware that's not a word, lol XD) Feedback is always appreciated! :D Again, Thank you!**


	8. Cold, Hard Fact

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII isn't mine...or any Final Fantasy for that matter o.O**

Chapter 8- Cold, Hard Fact

* * *

I heard voices around me, but I couldn't place names on them. My head was pounding hurtfully and my eyes didn't want to open. I managed to crack one open to see I was being carried into an aircraft by someone. I didn't have the strength to check who it was, and I honestly didn't care right now. I just wanted to sleep. Closing my eyes once more, I let sleep consume me.

_~Flashback~_

_~~~~~Day 11~~~~~~_

_The Seaside City of Bodhum _

Colors and lights shot up and thundered around the beach. Yellow, green, blue, red… So many colors. I had to admit it was a pretty sight, but it wasn't something to get so excited over. I frowned as another round of colors shot up into the sky. People were cheering and wooing excitedly. I didn't understand it… Wishing fireworks? I scoffed lightly to myself. But I couldn't shake off that child wonder in me, that child that wanted so much to make a wish. Believe that something as trivial as fireworks can actually make something impossible come true. Shaking my head, I turned away from the fireworks.

'I better go find mom and Hope'. I pushed my way out of the crowd, muttering soft apologies, and continued my search.

_I wasn't able to find any of them that day. So, I decided to continue my search tomorrow and stayed in a motel for the night. Little did I know, that night they would find the fal'Cie in the Vestige and then the next day, seal off the town and Purge us…_

_~Flashback Ends~_

A groan escaped my lips as I slowly came to the world of the living. My droopy eyes slowly came into focus and I realized I was in an unfamiliar place. I squirmed a little and noticed I was sitting in the floor, leaning against a wall. My eyes snapped open as I heard the familiar accented voice.

"Couldn't run if you wanted to."

I turned my head around towards the voice, and saw Snow and the mysterious woman facing away from me. The sudden urge to turn tail and run washed over me as I saw all the airships surrounding the one I was currently in, but seriously, how would that help now? No, this urge couldn't have taken over me when I was in the Vestige, of course not… stupid retarded brain… What on earth possessed me to follow those people anyway? Fear?...most likely.

I moved to try to stand up and realized my hands were cuffed. Using the wall as support, I slowly stood up.

"Hoo-hoo-hoo! Look at you!" I heard Snow say as he looked outside one of the many windows. From my position, I couldn't really see what it is he was looking at. "Wonder what's under the hood of that thing?"

"Keep your pants on." The woman replied to him. "You'll get a peek soon enough. Just try and behave."

"I'm not gonna make any promises."

"Cheeky boy, aren't ya?" The woman asked as she turned towards him. "We'll see how long that lasts."

The airship shook a little making me lose my footing slightly. I managed to catch myself in time, but it was enough to call the attention of the other two. The woman tilted her head at me, and smirked.

"Well, look who decided to join us?"

I scowled at her, only to make the woman's smirk grow in amusement. Snow looked towards me. "You okay, kid?" I nodded at him, and slowly walked towards them. Standing beside Snow, I stared at the taller woman. Now that I looked at her closely, I noticed she had a beauty mark underneath her right eye and had scars on her right arm and shoulder. She was wearing a blue sari over a short black top, black sleeves over her forearm, tan leather open-toed sandals, and two fur pelts hanging from a cord beneath a belt as well as tribal accessories. I also noticed a large tattoo on her left arm and a…wait. Is that a l'Cie mark on her other arm? How odd… instead of hers been black like mine and the others, her mark was white.

"You're a l'Cie…" I stated barely above a whisper, my eyes wide with shock. Before the woman could say anything a group of soldiers flooded into the room. They took a hold of Snow's and my elbows, and dragged us away.

* * *

The troop of soldiers were surrounding us, making any attempt we might have of escaping impossible. The soldiers escorted us aboard an airship called Lindblum, or that's what I heard one of the soldiers call it.

One of the soldiers ran past us. "He's come to meet you." He said as he walked next to the wild haired woman, who hummed in response.

"Halt." A soldier ordered, moving a hand in front of us to stop us.

"You must be Snow." A man with black hair and amber colored eyes, stated as he stood before us. He then turned his head to look at me and added. "And you must be Faith, hmm?" He then extended a hand for us to shake and introduced himself as Cid Raines, Brigadier general of the fleet.

"Hi, Cid. Thanks for the escort." Snow replied sarcastically, ignoring the general's hand.

"Apologies. I just had a few questions to ask you." The man answered, just as two Watchdrones carrying a crystallized Serah, moved passed us. "If it works like they tell us, that means she must have fulfilled her Focus."

"Serah!" Snow moved to run after the crystallized girl, but was stopped when the woman, whose name was Fang or so I heard, moved an arm to his throat. She shook her head at him as Cid continued to speak.

"Fulfilled her Focus as a tainted Pulse l'Cie, that is."

"You think she was out to hurt Cocoon?"

"I'd hardly be alone if I did." The general replied to Snow's enraged question. "When it comes to Pulse, who could claim to know anything? I need the truth for the sake of Cocoon."

"'The sake of Cocoon…'" Snow repeated. "We're from Cocoon!" The blonde stated, taking a step forward. Seeing this, one of the soldiers placed an arm on his shoulder to stop him in his tracks. "Shipping us out, Purging innocent people… That's how you lend us hand?"

"Those are the Sanctums methods." The raven haired man replied calmly. "The public fear what it doesn't know." I looked over at a small airship that was been carried to who knows where as the man continued. "It's grown tired of living in constant terror of these threats from the world below. So, the Sanctum devised a plan for you l'Cie."

"I'll bet." I heard Snow say. I turned my head to look at him, before facing the raven haired man.

"A public execution" All air left my lungs, making me gasp loudly at the revelation. "The people don't know any better. Strike down the phantom before their eyes, and they sleep like babes."

"No!" Snow exclaimed loudly and shook the soldiers away from him. I moved away from him as he lunged forward, but he was stopped when the Fang gave him a swift kick in the chin. The tall blonde hit the floor with a loud thud. I was about to kneel beside him to help him up, but stopped my actions when the soldiers pointed their guns at us.

"The Sanctum has intelligence on the other l'Cie already. It's only a matter of time."

"You'll never catch them." Snow stated, still on the ground.

"I see. We'll need your help then, won't we?"

"Like we'll help you!" I half yelled taking a step forward as he turned his back to us. I was surprised with myself to say the least. I wasn't expecting my body to act on its own or for my mouth to blurt things I prefer to keep to myself. That comment earned me a glare from Fang, who placed two fingers on my forehead and pushed my head back forcefully. My eyes widened as I lost my balance and fell to the floor beside Snow.

'What the hell? Either this woman has incredibly brute strength, or I'm really that pathetic.' I thought to myself as my features melted into a frown.

"We'll see about that." I heard Cid reply. I looked past the woman to see the man walking away. I glared at his retreating figure, but my vision was blocked by Fang. She kneeled before me and Snow, and motioned for the soldiers to take our cuffs off. I looked towards Snow to see if he would do anything, but the man wasn't even paying attention to what was happening around him. It was as if he was in a daze, a flashback maybe, but I couldn't really tell.

After the soldiers took our cuffs off, the woman motioned for them to leave, to which they did hesitantly. I rubbed my wrists lightly as Snow snapped out of his daze, and the woman left for a second to talk to some soldiers. A low sigh escaped my lips. 'Well, this sucks. I'm going to get executed.' I laughed bitterly to myself. That would surely call dad's attention. I snapped out of my thoughts when the woman came back.

"Okay! Time to hunt some l'Cie."

"So what, we find 'em and that's that?" Snow asked, clenching a hand into a fist.

"Don't get all hot and bothered." The woman replied, facing away from us and taking a few steps back. I sat down on one of the closest airships' seat as Snow started to mutter things to himself, probably about Serah, I couldn't quite catch what he was saying though. I looked around the room as my mind went back to the past. When everything was better. When dad actually spent time with us…and we were a family.

_~Flashback~_

**Narrators POV.**

A little boy with silver hair sat at the backyard of his house, silently playing with a Carbuncle doll. It was a warm day of summer and the little boy was enjoying the sun shining on his small figure. It wasn't long before another little girl, a few years older than him, stomped her way towards him as soon as she saw the doll the boy was playing with.

"Hey! That's mine!" Light blue-green eyes shined with childish anger. She roughly took the doll away from the boy, who let out a soft whimper before crying. The little girl looked around herself a little uncomfortable with the outcome, and a little bit of guilt rising in her tummy. Not wanting to get in trouble with her parents she quickly handed the doll back to the boy, who continued to cry silently.

"Here! Look! You can have it! Stop crying!" Panicking, she started to pace as she thought on what could shut the boy up. She thought on what her mom did whenever she was feeling sad. She kneeled before the boy and wrapped her small arms around him, rubbing small circles on his back, just like her mom does to her.

She let go of him as soon as he stopped crying and waved the doll in front of his face with a soft smile. The boy giggled and took a hold of the Carbuncle.

Soft laughs reached her ears, making the girl look away from her sibling to find her father and mother standing in the doorway, smiling softly. The silver headed girl blushed slightly and jumped away from her brother, who only giggled again at her reaction. She ran towards her father, who kneeled to pick her up.

"That was sure nice of you, pal!" The brown haired man said, placing the little girl on his shoulders as her mom went to pick her brother up.

"How about we go for some ice cream, huh? Sounds good?" The man asked. The little girl nodded eagerly, making the man chuckle.

_~Flashback Ends~_

**Faith's POV.**

I snapped out of my thoughts when Fang suddenly flicked my forehead, and then wacked Snow in the back of the head with a fist.

"I knew you were hard-headed, but…" She trailed off, hissing in pain from when she hit Snow.

"That was- ow!"

"Snap to it! We're rolling out!" She ordered as I rubbed my forehead, wearing a scowl on my face.

"Yeah, yeah. Hunting l'Cie, right?" Snow asked, to what the woman nodded to.

'_This is our chance!' _A voice came from the speakers, echoing around the room. _'Do not let the l'Cie escape! Move out!'_

Snow took a sit on the driver's seat of an airship, and I awkwardly looked around myself when the brunette took the seat behind him. 'Where am I supposed to seat now? I don't want to seat with a random soldier…' Seeing the troubled look in my face, the woman spoke up.

"You can just sit here with me, ya know? I think you're small and skinny enough to sit next to me."

I narrowed my eyes at the woman suspiciously. She could be planning to push me off for all i knew. She just shrugged at me and gestured for the small spot next to her. Sighing, I followed suit.

"You know how to fight?" The woman asked me as we waited for the doors to open. I only shrugged. "I manage." She nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

The glare of light shining on metal caught my eye, making me turn my head to look for the source. Squinting my eyes a little to look at the shiny object, my eyes widened. It was a simple metal chain, just lying around the ground. But attached to said object was some sort of knife.

Quickly, making sure the doors were still closed, I made a dash for the chain. I heard Fang yell something after me, but I didn't listen. When I finally reached the chain, the doors began to open.

I cursed and ran as fast as I could towards the airship were Snow and the woman were ushering me to hurry. It was quite hard to run fast when you are trying not to get send out flying off of an airship.

More wind rushed in as the doors opened completely. I had to stop as the rush of wind was pulling me out. My eyes widened as an airship was quickly taking speed towards me. Thinking fast, I jumped out of the way, forgetting about the reason I had stopped in the first place. Before I knew what was happening, I was flying, well actually, I was falling. It would have been a nice feeling if I had an AMP with me, but sadly I didn't. And the only thing I was feeling was panic and fear.

I thanked the Maker when Snow's airship came in sight. When he was flying close enough, Fang reached a hand out for me to take. But problem was, I wasn't exactly on the tall side. Meaning my arm wasn't long enough to reach the woman's. Panic was starting to rise in me as we were nearing the ground and my breathing began to pick up as my heart thundered in my chest. Pretty soon I was going to hyperventilate.

Clenching my hands into fist, I felt metal in my hands. Looking down, I realized I still had the chain in my hands. I face palmed and let out a small laugh for my stupidity, and gestured for Fang to take a hold of the chain. She nodded and I made sure to throw the end of the chain, that obviously didn't have knife attached. She took a hold of the chain and with a hard pull, I was sent flying towards her.

A relieved sigh escaped my lips as I landed in her arms. Panting, I moved away from her, thanking her as I did so, and sat down next to her as Snow controlled the airship into flying smoothly.

"What the hell where you thinking, kid?" She asked me with an annoyed stare. I shot her a tired smirk and waved the chain in front of me. She raised an amused eyebrow and shook her head, crossing her arms across her chest.

I rested my back on the seat comfortably, well as comfortably as one can when their sharing the same seat with someone, and closed my eyes as I waited for the airship to reach the floor. Let's see how I can 'manage'.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" I heard Fang ask beside me, and a small smirk stretched across my lips.

"Nope."

* * *

**Author's note: Updated! Yay! As you can see Faith is finally putting her pants on! Good for her, lol! Oh and she also has a weapon now! How cool is that?! Sorry I couldn't explain it well... I suck at it, lol. Also, I couldn't help but notice the chapter was a little bit angsty... I don't know, it could just be me XD. **

**Well, we all know what's coming next! The group shall split once more! Let me know who you want her to go with! I have ideas for whoever she goes! She also has the option of going alone, but will probably need saving anyways, or it possibly could be the perfect time for an Eidolon appearance :D... Anywho, just to let you know, the path with Snow and Hope will be angsty! While the path with Fang and Lightning will be more easygoing! Just thought I'd let you know! Leave a review to let me know soon so I can start on the next chapter :)**

**And last, but not least! Thank you to everyone who followed, favorite and reviewed! Thank you for the kind words! It really encourages me to keep on writing! Feedback is ALWAYS appreciated! lol Thank you! :D **

**(on a side note: Faith is the one in the cover pic. It's not as good as it would have been if I was drawing her home since I drew her while I was in chemistry class, lol. I hate that class with my life... But that's mostly how I picture her in my head... Of course, you don't have to do it as well. If you have a better mental picture of her, then stick with that one :D) **


	9. The Weight of Vengeance

**Disclaimer- I only own my OC.**

* * *

Chapter 9- The Weight of Vengeance

_'Hope is comforting. It allows us to accept fate, no matter how tragic it might be.'_

* * *

"So, uh, we're not just going to barge in there, right?" I asked chuckling a bit at the end as Fang and Snow led the way to The Agora, where I was sure chaos would ensue once we got there. Turns out, we weren't really going to 'hunt' l'Cie. It's kind of complicated, but Fang's actually going to help us out for her own reasons.

My eye twitched a bit when the two adults ignored me. Suddenly, the two stopped, making me almost run into Snow. I moved to look at what had made them stop and noticed two, wait, make that three, PSICOM soldiers. I gripped my chain, which was wrapped around my torso. From the corner of my eye I could see Fang taking a device from her pouch. 'Now what is she- oh no…' I slowly inched closer to Snow to stand behind him as Fang threw the bomb.

'**Boom!'**

Through the cloud of smoke I was able to notice the silhouettes of the soldiers falling to the ground, gasping for oxygen. I only blinked when Snow charged into the cloud, quickly disposing of the three soldiers. I followed after Fang, jogging into the picture.

"That's some crowd." I heard her say as I coughed and squinted my eyes at the scene below us. "Gonna need a plan."

The wild haired woman tilted her head when Snow chuckled. "Since when have heroes ever needed plans?" The man asked, almost cockily, resting the gun he had taken from one of the soldiers on his shoulder. My eyes swiveled away from him to the soldier behind him, who was groggily starting to get up.

"Um, Snow…" The words died in my throat at that moment. A blue light emitted from the man, blinding me for a moment. When my vision came back, I saw Snow summoning his Eidolith, the soldier from before knocked out again. With the gun in hand, he threw the crystal into the air before shooting it. Streams of ice shot out of the floating orb, taking out quite the number of soldiers, before out came the familiar Shiva sisters. My lips twitched into a smile. It was quite the sight really. The sisters were practically sparkling.

"Fang!" I turned my gaze away from the Eidolon to catch Snow throwing his gun at Fang and jumping from the edge. I quickly moved to see what the man was doing and grinned a bit when he landed on his Eidolon's gestalt mode, which was a bike.

"C'mon now!" I heard Fang say beside me. I was about to turn towards her to see what she meant, but didn't have time to do anything. A squeak escaped my lips as the woman took a hold of my waist and jumped to the back of Snow's bike. I grunted when my stomach make contact with the bike. I was laying sideways, on my stomach, in between Snow and Fang, holding onto the bike for dear life. I slowly lifted my head to glare at Fang. The woman looked at me from the corner of her eye and raised an amused eyebrow, before turning completely serious. She shot at the soldiers closest to us as Snow drove by on the ice produced by the Shiva sisters.

"Yeah!" Snow grinned once we were on the ground. "Lightning!"

* * *

I quickly scrambled off the bike giving Fang another glare before turning towards Hope and Lightning. The pink haired woman had her gunblade in its gun form, her arm outstretched to where a group of now dead soldiers lied motionlessly on the floor.

"Take care of him." Lightning said curtly, pushing Hope towards Snow. He fell into Snow's arms, but quickly scrambled off.

"Lightning, listen to me!" Snow started, trying to explain what Fang had told us on the way here, but was quickly interrupted by the pink haired woman.

"Get moving!"

"No, you don't understand! Serah's alright! She'll turn back!" I heard Lightning sigh, and for a moment, I thought she would whirl around and punch Snow in the face like back in Lake Bresha, but she didn't. "Take care of Hope."

"Wait!" Snow shouted after the speeding woman, but it fell on deaf ears.

"And then there were four." Fang chuckled before running after Lightning.

'Make that three…' I thought, heaving a sigh. I was about to follow after them, but suddenly, all the soldiers that I thought were dead stood up and pointed their guns at us.

"They're here!" A soldier pointed out as they all moved towards us. "Hold it!"

"Gotta go!" Snow quickly took a hold of Hope and sat him down on the bike, before sitting down himself. He then motioned for me to get on. I sighed as I realized I'd have to sit in the back of the bike and not on the seat. I quickly sat down and my hands hovered awkwardly above Hope's shoulders, before placing them firmly. I felt him flinch under my touch, but didn't make a move to remove my hands. "So how've you been?" The man asked, before starting the bike.

"Hang on!"

I gripped Hope's shoulders tighter as the blonde weaved through the many soldiers. My eyes widened when Hope lost his grip on Snow and since I was holding onto him, we were both sent tumbling to the ground. I quickly stood up and made to move, but stopped when the soldiers pointed their guns at us. From the corner of my eye, I could see Hope standing up as well. I turned my head towards him. There was something different about him. He wasn't shaking in fear or anything. Lightning must have toughen him up or something. I wasn't able to ponder much on the thought, since Snow sped towards us.

"Take cover!" The man ordered.

Hope seemed confused, but did as he was told, with me following behind him. We watched from a few feet as Snow used his Eidolon to take care of the soldiers. A path of ice was made wherever the bike passed through and it wasn't long before all the enemies were taken care of. The Shiva sisters went back into their crystal, but not before blowing Snow goodbye kisses.

"What's up?" Snow questioned once we stood before him.

"Where have you been?" Hope directed his question at Snow, but glanced at me as well. His features contorting into a small frown. It surprised me though. His voice didn't quiver or anything.

"We got taken in." The blonde replied, putting his hands on his hips.

"Wait- what?" Hope asked, taking a step forward.

"By the Cavalry." I spoke up, rubbing the back of my neck. Hope's eyes widened slightly and he turned to Snow when the man continued the explanation.

"Leader's name is Raines. He said he'd lend us l'Cie a hand." The blonde continued clenching a hand into a fist. "So now, your hero is back!"

"Why would the army help us? That doesn't make sense." The boy questioned, throwing his hand in the air.

"It does if you don't think about it." I replied. Hope turned to look at me with a confused frown and I only shrugged in response.

"Military's got all kinds. Not all of 'em like the Sanctum." The tall blonde explained. He then placed a hand on Hope's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll handle the bad guys. Come on."

* * *

Man this was going to take a while. We were fighting off soldiers and militarized units as we kept on moving. I didn't even know where we were going.

"I think we're almost there." Snow said after a while as we made our way through one of the many tunnels in Palumpolum. We stopped after a while to catch our breaths and Snow kept a look out for any soldiers.

"You've changed, haven't you?" The blonde spoke up, looking towards Hope. "Seems like you've toughened up." Exactly what I was thinking the whole time. The boy faced enemies head on now, not shaking in fear or cowering. I did the same thing though. As sloppy as I was with fighting, I was quickly learning how to use my own weapon. I thought I was pretty good, you know…for an amateur. I snapped out of my thoughts when Hope replied to Snow's musings.

"I'm a l'Cie. I had to."

A breathy chuckle escaped Snow's lips. "The only ones that ought to be fighting the army are us dumb grown-ups."

"You think it's stupid to fight?" Hope questioned. His voice sounded almost angry.

"It is if you get killed." I watched with a frown on my face as Hope looked down, clenching his fist angrily. "Anyway, just lay low. Let the dummies duke it out." The tall man finished flashing us his signature grin and wink. "The army's no match for NORA, right?"

'NORA… Norah. My mother's name.' I turned away from them and took in a deep breath to keep in any tears that might have been threatening to spill. Crying wouldn't solve anything now. I crossed my arms across my chest as I waited for them to move, my face almost contorting to a scowl. I quietly hummed a tune to keep my mind off depressing thoughts. When Snow began to walk away, I quickly followed after him.

'I wonder how the others are doing…' I thought to myself, twirling the ends of my chain.

Suddenly, there was a small beeping sound emitting from Snow. He then took the device Fang had given him out of his pocket and brought it up to his ear. "It's me, what's up?"

"_You damn well know what's up!"_ Fang's accented voice could be heard clearly, even from the distance I had behind the tall blonde. The man quickly distanced the device from his ear, before bringing it back on. _"Why haven't you called in?"_

I raised an amused eyebrow. The Pulsian was quite loud. "Sorry, slipped my mind." Snow replied sheepishly. The woman then said something back to him, but I couldn't make out what it was. Snow turned his head towards me and Hope, and nodded a bit. "Great, great. Hope and Faith are great too! Are you alright?"

"Hey, Sis. Is that you?" Fang must have passed the radio to Lightning after answering Snow's question. The woman replied back, but I wasn't able to hear what it was.

"_- Felix Heights 35-A."_ I tilted my head to the side a bit after hearing my house's location. I turned to Hope with a raised eyebrow. He only nodded at me before focusing his attention on Snow.

"Right. See ya there. Tell Fang 'hey'."

"_Take care of them." _

"All over it." Snow replied. "And I'll tell you more about Serah when we meet up. I found out she _can _turn back. There's still hope."

Snow then handed Hope the radio. "Lightning, it's me." The boy then walked a few feet away from us and started to talk to the pink haired woman on the other end. I turned towards Snow, who smiled sheepishly at me.

"So, we're going to my house?" I questioned as we waited for Hope to keep on moving.

"Looks like it." Snow replied, before grinning, placing a large hand on top of my head. "See, I told you you'd be home in time for dinner!" I chuckled and pushed the man's hand away from my head.

Hope then came back and we headed out in the direction of our home. 'Wonder how dad will take having a bunch of l'Cie on his doorstep.'

* * *

"_Evacuation protocol. You'll be moved to a secured location."_ We heard a soldier say as they evacuated the Palumpolum population.

"The Sanctum follows fal'Cie orders. It's not just after l'Cie." Snow concluded as we watched from behind an alley. "They'll target civilians and Purge everyone who's a threat."

"And more innocents get killed." Hope said, looking up at Snow. A slight frown adorning his features.

"You can't take the blame for that." Snow sighed.

"Someone has to."

'What is up with Hope? He's acting…strange. Angry. Maybe is because of the l'Cie business. I should ask him… but I seriously don't know how to approach him.' I heaved a sigh and ran a hand through my silver bangs.

"We can still save 'em. We let loose and bring the army to us." Snow replied, glaring at the scene before us.

I looked at the group of soldiers before turning to Snow. "You mean, draw their fire?"

"I'm supposed to protect you." The blonde continued. "But I can't let this happen. It's a tough call that's for sure." He turned his head towards us and grinned. "Only one choice, I guess. I try to save everyone."

I looked down for a moment, processing what the man had said. It will be troublesome… but I guess it's the right thing to do. We have the power to save this people anyway.

"So… are you guys with me on this?" Snow continued, standing up from his crouched position into his full height. "You just need to look out for yourselves."

I heard Hope take in a deep breath beside me. Guess we're going to do this. As we continued forward, we dispatch of every soldier in our sight. We then reached a platform were a lot of the Palumpolum population stood in one big crowd. A few soldiers here and there.

"Not good." Snow said as he took in the sight. He then approached the closest soldier. I looked around the crowed a bit and noticed a little girl staring at us. She had a Carbuncle doll in her hand, really similar to the one I had when I was a kid. I shook my head and turned to the PSICOM soldier.

"Now why don't you just calm dow-" The soldier wasn't able to finish that sentence, for Snow had already punched him in the face.

I took a step closer towards Hope as people turned towards Snow, gasping at what had happened. Scared, they began to back away from the blonde, who took the soldiers gun. I curiously watched as he lifted the gun into the air.

My eyes widened the size of saucers when he began to shoot upwards randomly. "What the f-"

"I am a Pulse l'Cie. I'm here to kill you all!" That was enough to make the crowd disperse. They ran away as quickly as they could, leaving me and Hope to stare at the blonde.

"What are you doing?" Hope asked before I could, when the man stopped shooting.

"Clearing the area." Snow replied, watching the fearful citizens run off. A group of soldiers taking their place. The blonde quickly ushered for me and Hope to take cover when they soldiers began to shoot us. "They'll open fire on a crowd. Doesn't matter who dies. Just wipe 'em all out!"

"What made you think they wouldn't?!" I asked incredulously, wiping my head around to frown at him. He looked at me, but didn't say anything.

After fighting off some PSICOM aerial snipers, we continued on our way. A soft whimpering caught my attention. As Snow checked on some aerial sniper's device, I turned my head towards the sound and noticed the girl with the Carbuncle doll from before, sitting down on the floor. She must have lost sight of her mother in all the chaos.

"Hey." Hope called out to her. I watched as he took a step closer to the girl, reaching a hand out to her. "You okay?"

The girl squeaked and threw the doll at Hope. "Leave her alone!" Turning my gaze away from the little girl, my jaw fell slightly ajar. "L'Cie sum!" An angry mob with metal poles and everything stood a few feet away from us.

"Don't you touch her!"

"We can take 'em!"

"Protect Cocoon!"

The little girl then took the chance of our distraction and pushed Hope, quickly running off towards her mother, who kneeled before her and hugged her tightly. My brother stared at the doll from his place on the ground as the mob inched towards us slowly.

"Oh, great." Snow muttered. He moved to stand in front of the crowd and showed off his now glowing brand, stopping the crowd in their movements. He then charged up an ice spell and shot it at a sign above, which fell right in between the mob and us.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Hope gingerly take the Carbuncle doll from the ground. I followed him with my gaze as he placed the doll on top of the sign. "I'm sorry." He muttered before turning around.

"Time to go!" Snow exclaimed when he saw the PSICOM soldiers rushing towards us. I yelped a bit when he took a hold of my arm and lifted me up onto his back. "Hold on tight!"

The man then took the PSICOM aerial device and turned it on. He took a hold of Hope's waist before taking off from the floor sloppily. I squeezed my eyes shut when we got too close to the wall, the aerial device scratching against it, and tightened my grip around Snow's neck. I was starting to think aerial experiences weren't so fun... unless you have an AMP... I really like those. When I re-opened my eyes, we were still in the air, going up actually. When we finally landed on the Rivera Towers, I quickly got off of Snow's back and sat on the floor, breathlessly.

"We've got to stay ahead of 'em." Snow said, crouching beside Hope. He shot me a glance before standing up to his full height. "We walk from here."

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**A/N: Okay! Chapter done! Sorry for the long wait! I've been a bit lazy I must admit... My apologies. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Keep a look out for the next one! If it turns out like I have planned, it'll be pretty cool! XD I'll comeback to check and probably update this chapter tomorrow... I'm so tired I can't even think of something to ramble on about here... XD**

**Anyways, thank you to those who followed, favorite and reviewed! Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! :D Again, sorry for the wait! XD **


	10. Sustained by Hate

**Disclaimer- I don't own Final Fantasy XII**

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Chapter 10- Sustained by Hate

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"Felix Heights is that way, right?" Snow asked, pointing a finger in said direction. I looked down at Hope, who sat down on the floor, and then back up at Snow. We were still on the Rivera towers, taking a small stop to figure out if we were going in the right direction. Nodding, I made to stand next to the man. "Still pretty far." He noted, placing his hands on his hips. My gaze swiveled away from him and focused on a sign a little ways from here. "A great place for family living." The blonde read out loud. "So they say. Looks like it actually might be, huh?" I huffed a bit, turning away and crossing my arms across my chest.

"Yeah, well, l'Cie don't have family."

'Ouch.' I turned around and stared at Hope. He flinched a bit after he said that, apparently taking notice of me. I felt a bit offended really. 'I know I haven't been the best sister, but still, that doesn't take away the tittle. It wasn't always like that. He was the one that drifted away anyways.' I thought to myself, a bitter expression taking over my features. I walked towards him, and I could see him tense up. I stopped when I was merely a few feet away from him and just stared.

"Listen to me, kid." Snow started, putting his hands behind his head and making his way over. "I'm an orphan- I barely got to know my family." He kneeled before Hope and continued. "But someday, I'm gonna have my own. Once I save Serah, and protect Cocoon."

"How exactly?" Hope asked, finally lifting his head to glare at Snow.

The man chuckled. "That's a good question." He stood up, turning his back to Hope. "I want to do what's right, but everyone hates l'Cie. Kind of hard to help someone that's trying to kill you. It'll be tough. But everything will work out in the end." He turned back around with a hand clenched into a fist. "As long as we stay together and hold on to hope-"

"We don't have any!" Hope abruptly interrupted Snow, standing up with a deep frown. Suddenly, one of the signs floating in the air was blown up by a pair of soldiers. "A l'Cie's only hope is a quick death!"

Snow turned towards the explosion, staring at it with slightly widened eyes before continuing forward. I turned towards Hope, who looked down, clenching his hands into fists. "We have you, don't we?" I said softly. He sharply turned his head towards me. His eyes wide with surprise. Nodding a bit, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and followed after Snow. I could feel Hope's eyes boring into my back before I heard footsteps, signaling that he was following us.

* * *

"I wanted to ask you something." I hear Hope say from behind me. I turned towards him to see if he was talking to me, but his gaze was transfixed on Snow.

"What's that?" Snow asked after seeing Hope was looking directly at him. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, waiting patiently so we could get a move on.

"You say you want a family." Hope started. I tilted my head in confusion. "What if- what if they were taken away from you?" My eyes widened slightly, quickly realizing what he was getting at. Still, I was quite confused. Why would he be asking something like this to Snow?

"Well then, I'd take them back." The blonde replied without a hint of hesitation.

"And what if you couldn't? What if you knew who was to blame?"

'If you knew who was to blame…' I know for a fact that he's talking about mom's death. I still didn't know all the details… I didn't want to hear about it. I don't think I'd be able to take it all in. I wasn't ready. Yet Hope… I turned my gaze towards him again. Hope knew all about mom's death and here he was…

"Well, then there'd be trouble." The man replied, chuckling a bit. "Hey, are you okay?" Hope sighed and turned his gaze to the floor. "Did you get hit in the head, or something, or-?"

The man didn't get to finish that sentence, for at the moment, an Ushumgal Subjugator flew out from seemingly out of nowhere, succeeding in scaring the crap out of me. The thing flapped its wings, making my hair whip around my face.

"Guess we'll have to talk about this later!" The man said, moving to stand in front of Hope and me.

I raised a bewildered eyebrow when Hope push him out of the way. "Don't just stand there!" He took out his Airwing and ran closer to the creature.

"Hope, wait!" I shouted after him, Snow doing the same before following the silver haired boy. I heaved a sigh and unwrapped my chained blade from around me, falling into a fighting stance.

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Battle theme: Saber's edge_

As the creature stared down at us, we took the time to choose our Paradigm roles. We decided to go with 'bully'. Snow would be our Commando, Hope would be our Synergist, while I would be the Sabouteur. I learned this role after watching Fang fight when we were trying to get to the Agora. Now, I wasn't good at it, like, at all. But I did learn how to cast Deprotect, which lowers the enemy's defense. Using this Paradygm, Snow charged in, launching as many punches as the enemy would let him. While the Ushmugal was preoccupied with Snow, Hope buffed our party with spells, and I continued to cast Deprotect. Snow was stopped for a moment however, when the creature roared in anger and continuously shot yellow beams at him. The blonde man raised his arms up, quickly changing his role to Sentinel. Seeing this, Hope and I changed our roles as well, both of us taking the role of Ravager and casting as many spells as we could. I was starting to think this would be an easy fight. When the creature stopped shooting, Snow changed his role to Commando, but this just made the creature loose interest in him. My stance faltered for a moment when the feral turned to face Hope and me. It had obviously found out where the weakest point in our party was. Snow must have noticed the creature's intentions as well, for the moment the Ushmugal advanced towards us, he turned to Sentinel.

"C'mon!" The blonde shouted, trying to call the feral's attention. "I'm right here!

I watched in dismay as the thing advanced towards us. The feral had completely ignored Snow, and was looking directly at us. I swung my blade around, and when it was close enough, I launched it towards the feral… Bad idea. The thing roared angrily and gave me quite the surprise when it did a backflip. Thankfully, I was able to detach the blade from its neck, but failed to notice the Ushmugal's tail, quickly taking speed towards us.

"Argh!" Surprised, I turned around, only to see Hope crash onto the floor after being hit with the feral's tail.

"Hope!" I began to run towards him, but was stopped in the middle of my tracks when the creature smashed its tail onto the concrete before me. I raised my arms to cover my face as rocks were sent everywhere. My eyes widened slightly when the Ushmugal's tail was removed and I was able to see the hole it had left on the concrete.

"I got him!" I lifted my head and saw Snow helping Hope up. Nodding, I turned my attention towards the Ushmugal and swung my blade at it to keep it distracted. I shot water and blizzard spells at the creature, moving around as quickly as I could so that the Ushmugal wouldn't have time to hit me with a deadly attack. But all this was taking a toll on my stamina, and soon, I stopped moving as quickly as I was and just shot any spell that came to my mind. This however, gave the Ushmugal the chance to shoot its yellow beams at me. I dodge as many as I could, but one hit me right in the shoulder, burning the skin under my shirt.

"Gaahh!" With a grunt, I fell on the floor, holding onto my injured shoulder. I bit onto my lip to keep myself from screaming. I could feel the veins on my neck popping out. I looked up when the feral's shadow fell on me. Still on the floor and holding onto my shoulder, I backed away as fast as one can with an injury.

"The hero's here!" I blinked in shock for a moment wondering if I was seeing things or something. Snow had popped out from seemingly out of nowhere on the feral's shoulder, punching its head continuously. Hope turned to Ravager role after curing himself and shot spells at the Ushmugal. The creature trashed its head around angrily, but thankfully its attention wasn't on me. I lifted my arm from my injured shoulder and casted Deprotect on it. However, the Ushmugal was smart and after a few more thrashing of its head, Snow was forced to let go. Seeing the opportunity to escape, the Ushmugal flew away.

**BATTLE ENDS**

"Aw, yeah!" Snow exclaimed, watching the creature flee. Hope rested his hands on his knees and slouched forward, panting. Breathing heavily, I stood up and attached my chained blade onto my belt, and held onto my shoulder once again. I walked towards the two, and Snow looked over Hope and me. His gaze fell on the hand holding onto my shoulder and his brows furrowed in concern. "Let's take a break, okay? How about we do it over there?"

We walked towards some vending machines, where Snow took out two cans of sodas. I leaned my back on a nearby wall, Hope doing the same. I removed my hand from my shoulder, wincing as I lowered the sleeve slowly to get a better look. The skin surrounding my shoulder was colored a painful reddish pink and the stinging sensation hadn't died down. Suddenly, a gloved hand hovered above my injury, soon starting to glow a familiar shade of blue, and a wave of relief washed over me. Following the arm connected to the hand, my eyes fell onto the familiar face of my brother, whose eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. I stared at him. He really has changed. Just by looking at his face I can tell. Soon, Hope lowered his hand and the stinging sensation was gone. I looked down at my shoulder, which was now a light shade of pink.

"Thank you." I muttered, looking up into his eyes. Hope stared right into mine, before nodding silently.

"Here." I tore my gaze away from Hope and saw Snow holding out the pair of soda cans to us. I took it gratefully, but Hope just shook his head.

"I'm not thirsty."

"O-kay…" Snow said awkwardly, putting his free hand behind his head. "Well, don't want to waste it." He opened the can and took a huge gulp. I looked over the railing. My gaze lingered there for a second. This was a place mom used to take us to quite often. I remember me and Hope were kids. But that was all before dad's big promotion. The scenery was quite beautiful, still is actually.

"I can't-"

"Hmm?" Shaking my head off my thoughts and turning my attention away from the railing, a confused frown stretched across my features when I saw Hope's angry expression. "Hope…?"

"Snow!" He pushed himself away from the wall and frowned at Snow, who turned to face Hope. "What do you plan to do? I need to know."

"I told you." The man started. "Save Serah, protect Cocoon, and have myself a big happy family." I took a sip of my soda as he continued. "Still it's a long road ahead. Or maybe not so long." He said, looking down at his l'Cie brand. "Whatever happens, things will work themselves out. Even if you're l'Cie, you've got to keep fighting."

"And what if that gets people around you involved?" Hope asked, taking a few steps forward. This made Snow gasp. "What happens when your actions end up ruining someone's life?" I turned my gaze from Hope to Snow. The man staggered backwards, another gasp escaping his lips as his eyes glazed over. "What if someone dies? What then, Snow?" The blonde stutter, his back hitting the railing. But Hope paid no mind to this and continued. "How do you pay for what you've done?"

"I can't, all right?" Snow finally snapped, gripping the railings tightly. I was beyond confused really, and I couldn't do anything but stare at the two. "There is nothing that can make something like that right again. When someone's dead, when someone's gone, words are useless."

"So that's it? People die and you just run away?"

"I know!" Snow shouted angrily, punching his fist against the railing. "It's all my fault!" I frowned at this and pushed away from the wall, standing a few feet behind Hope and throwing the empty can in my hand away.

"Hope, what's going on?" The silver haired boy looked over at me with a solemn expression, but didn't answer me and only turned his attention back on Snow.

"But, I don't know how to fix it! Where do you start? What do you say? All I can do is go forward. Keep fighting and surviving, until I find the answers I need." The blonde man said, looking down.

"There are no answers! You're running from what you deserve!"

"Well, why don't you tell me what I deserve?" Snow shouted back at Hope.

"The same fate!" Hope yelled, a yellowish orange blast coming out of him. I lifted my arms to cover my face and was thrown onto my back by the force. Groaning a bit, I lifted my head, and almost choked at the sight. Hope was standing close to the edge, a combat knife in his right hand, while Snow was struggling to keep a hold on said edge. My eyes widened and I quickly scrambled to my feet.

"Hope! What are you doing?!" I shouted trying to get the boy's attention. He only turned half of his face to look at me before looking down at the combat knife in his hand. I slowly began to make my way over to him, but stopped at what he said next.

"Nora Estheim. She was our mother." Hope began. I blinked, swallowing hard. "And she died because of you!" My eyes widened at this. My mind went completely blank.

'What…?'

"You!" I barely heard Snow exclaim. "You're the ones she meant!"

With a cry, Hope lifted the knife above his head, but I couldn't move to stop him. The guy I had traveled with all this time, was the reason my mother was... dead? I clenched my chest tightly, my vision blurring with tears. 'This is too much…' My breathing picked up. I looked up at Hope. From behind his head I could see something quickly taking speed towards us. I parted my lips to say something, but no words came out of my mouth. The missiles went right past me, hitting the wall behind and creating a huge explosion. I could feel myself being lifted into the air and closed my eyes tightly. I was flying. A burning sensation passed by my back, but then I felt a pair of arms circle around me. I opened my eyes, but everything was a blur. The only thing I was able make out was silver hair right in front of my face, but then nothing.

* * *

**(Quick A/N: I suggest listening to the track 'Sustained by hate' from here... more emotional, yeah? :D)**

When I re-opened my eyes, everything was blurry. My vision was dark around the edges. I kept on blinking. Staring up at nothing. The sound of someone getting up and groaning reached my ears. I lifted my head as much as I could. I felt as if I had just fallen off a ten story building. 'Oh, wait…'

Looking around, my gaze fell on a blurry figure, kneeling before another. I blink a bit more trying to focus on the person. 'Trench coat… Snow!' And the person on the ground was obviously Hope.

"Ge- ugh…" I groaned. "Ge- get away from him…" I whispered, but he didn't hear me. I could barely speak. My body hurt so badly, and I could feel a warm liquid running by the side of my head. But still, I tried again. "Get away from him! Ugh!" I half yelled, and quickly moved a hand to my bleeding temple. I was able to make out Snow's surprised expression. He grunted in pain, but ignored me and turned towards Hope again. I slowly stood up, moaning in pain when my head pounded. It felt like I was being hammered over the head. But I stood up stubbornly. I could feel the blood running down the side of my face now, but I paid no mind to it. I staggered forward, slowly nearing Snow. "I said, get away from him!" I tried to push Snow away, but ended up falling onto my knees. "I…" I rolled onto my back and saw Snow successfully place Hope on his back and turn towards me.

"F-Faith…" Snow went to help me, but I was making it hard for him by pushing him away. I was too tired to fight much though, and soon lowered my hands.

"Are you… are you gonna kill me too?" I asked, with a tired scowl. I saw pain flash across Snow's face, but he resumed to do what he was doing after shaking his head at my question.

"Can you walk?" He asked me, before gently taking my arms to help me up.

"I'm fine." I answered pushing his hands away. I looked at Hope's unconscious form on Snow's back. "I can carry him- ugh!" I began, but my head pounded more hurtfully as more blood spilled from my temple.

Snow shook his head and began to walk ahead, grunting as he did so. I followed after him slowly. Our place wasn't so far now. We went up a set of ladders and Snow collapsed onto the floor. He then stood back up and we continued on, until a set of explosions stopped us.

"That must be Light." Snow muttered. "Hey." I turned back to look at Snow and was surprised to see Hope fully awake, his eyes wide.

"Why'd you save me?" Hope asked.

"I was asked to keep you safe. By Lightning. And by Nora." Snow began. Grasping my head painfully, I turned my full attention onto him after hearing my mother's name. "I'm sorry. What happened- it was my fault. I put her in danger. I know that. Let me make things right."

"You told me before that you couldn't." Hope countered, looking down.

"And the words were useless, and a lot of other things I shouldn't have said." Snow continued. "Look, I didn't know what to do, didn't know how to set things straight. So I didn't. I thought if I couldn't make up for it, then all the apologies in the world wouldn't mean a thing. So I decided I had to find a way to pay for it first, before I'd even have the right to say sorry." Snow glanced back at Hope. "But, it's like you said. I was using that as an excuse so I could run from my own guilt." He tried to stand up to his full height, but doubled over in pain. "That hit home. Look Hope, Faith. I know what happened was my fault. I don't deny it, and I'm sorry." Snow then took out the combat knife Hope had before from his pocket and handed to him. "That's Light's, right?"

"I… Why'd you-?"

"That knife was a present from Serah. To keep her safe." Snow explained as we kept on moving slowly with me on the lead. "She trusted you with something that important? You should be the one to carry it. I'll find a way to make things better. Just give me time. If nothing I do is good enough, then I'll take any punishment you want to dish out."

"She's gone, Snow." Hope muttered. I stopped once again looking down at the floor with a deep frown, tears wanting to leak out of my eyes. "You can take the blame… but it won't bring her back".

"I'm sorry." Snow apologized.

"I knew it all along." Hope began. "I knew it but- I had to blame someone. I had to. I needed a reason to keep on fighting."

"It wasn't _someone's_ fault." Snow spoke up. "It was mine. Take it out one me. And keep yourself alive until you do." I whirled around when the sound of someone falling reached my ears.

"I have to keep going." Snow muttered, now crawling to the wall to help himself up. "Look at that. You didn't even need any help." Snow said when he saw Hope on his feet, staring at him. "You're all right. That's good to see. Just let me catch my breath." I stare at the man's tired face for a moment before frowning in confusion when shock appeared on his face. I turned around to see what he was looking at and my jaw fell slightly when the Ushmugal from before flew towards us.

"Get back! I got this!" Snow shouted. But the Ushmugal swung its tail at him, sending him flying towards the wall, and knocking him out.

"Snow!" Hope shouted. "Always the hero… Do you want to die?" The silver haired boy got up and took out his Airwing. "You can't! I won't let you."

Removing my now bloodied hand from my head, I began to take out my own weapon. But everything was so blurry, because of the loss of blood, I could barely see my own hands. I lifted my gaze towards where I thought Hope was, but couldn't make out a thing, just swirls of colors.

'Why does it matter anyway…? We're ticking time bombs!' I thought to myself, giving up on detaching my weapon from my belt. 'I should just…'

"Aarhg!" A sharp pain on my hipbone dismissed the thoughts swirling in my head. I looked down at myself and from what my foggy vision would let me see, a glowing yellow light was emitting from me. I squinted my eyes and was surprised to see yellow glowing patterns on the floor.

'What…? No way…'

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**A/N: That's it for now. Sorry to cut it there XD I think we all know what's going to happen next :D I'm so excited! Anyways this chapter was way more longer... (reason why my fingers are cramped up :c) But I had to edit it, cause then you guys would be like: "Da fudge, Gravity-chan? You're gonna be the reason why I'm looking more like a person who spends too much time on the internet! With glasses the size of plates!" While I'm like "I'm so sorry! *bows* But glasses are cool!"...and yeah... lol I'm sorry for that XD**

**Anyhow****! I hope you guys liked the chapter! Next one will be out soon, cause I'm just itching to write it already! Hopefully it'll unfold like it does in my head... XD Well, Thank you guys for all the reviews, the follows and favorites! You guys are so awesome! :D**


	11. Healing the Rifts

**Discalimer- This person *points to self*, doesn't own Final Fantasy XIII**

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Chapter 11- Healing the Rifts

_It would be so easy to just give up… It _would_ have been easier, not to deal with all of this… I could have just let my fate carry me away... Let myself be freed of the misery that cursed us l'Cie. But I knew I couldn't. I had something to fight for, even if… I didn't know it at the time…_

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"Argh!" I grunted loudly as a wave of pain cursed through me. I fell to my knees, barely able to make out the yellow patterns on the floor. Though they were glowing so bright, that I doubted I would have been able to see them with a clear eyesight. I placed a shaky hand on my glowing brand, shutting my eyes tightly. The wind seemed to pick up, and I could feel my hair whipping around my face. Another spasm of pain shot up my body, making me grit my teeth to keep in the scream bubbling up in my throat. I was gonna have to fight this thing if I wanted to keep breathing, but with the state I was in... I had no chance. Not only was my vision horrible, it was starting to get dangerously dark around the edges and I was starting to feel really lightheaded. In other words, it wouldn't be long before I passed out. On the other hand, Hope was fighting the feral from before on his own, and I couldn't do anything to help him. I couldn't even feel the pain from the wound in my head anymore. Either it was already numb, the pain on my hipbone was distracting my brain, or I was too tired to concentrate on anything. My breathing was ragged, the thundering of my heart battling with the pulsating pain on my brand. Things didn't seem bright for me at the moment.

"Faith!"

I heard someone calling me, but I didn't bother to open my eyes to see who it was. My body was now shaking, and I was on the edge of collapsing. A stronger wave of pain shot through me, and then I was thrown out of the yellow symbols by a strong, bright blast. As I stopped skidding across the floor, I tried my best to open my eyes. The dark edges were closing in on my vision. I could barely see now, but thankfully, the pain in my brand was now gone. With much effort, I tried sitting up, only to fall right back face first.

"F-Faith?! Move out!"

There was that voice again. Why couldn't they just let me rest a bit? With my cheek glued to the floor, I tried to look at where the voice had come from, but couldn't see anything, except for a towering blur above me.

'Dammit…' I unconsciously closed my eyes. My mind clouding over.

The sound of something clashing onto another reached my ears. I tried to turn towards the sound, cracking one of my eyes open. Big blurs seemed to be moving at lightning speed, and one of them was probably an Eidolon.

"Faith! C'mon! You need to get up!" I tried to look at the owner of the voice, and only saw another blur coming towards me. This one being yellow and orange, so it was Hope. I looked back at the two bigger blurs to see there was only one standing there, or at least from what I could see. And it could have been a hallucination, but I think it's coming closer. I tried to sit up to back away, but it was useless. With a sad, shaky sigh, I turned my gaze towards Hope's approaching figure.

"I-I'm sorry…"

Dark.

When I opened my eyes again, I was floating in a dark place. Much like after the fight with the fal'Cie Anima. I twitched my fingers a bit, checking to see if I could move them. I didn't feel pain anymore. It all vanished. A soft, melodic voice called to me. It was singing a sad, yet beautiful melody. I couldn't understand the words, they were foreign. If I had to guess, I'd say they were probably Pulsian. I turned my head to where I thought it was coming from. A bright light meeting my eyes before it vanished. A robotic-like warrior stood before me. It wore a golden helmet on its head, light, golden feathers sat majestically on their shoulder pads, and its whole body was covered in a white armor, lined in gold. A blue cape fell down from its shoulders, gently flowing behind the being. Judging by the body, the being was obviously female.

"Where am I?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. The being just continued to stare down at me with light purple, glowing orbs. I gulped a bit at the sight. 'Was it possible…that I was dead…and this being was…the maker?'

I watched as the being lifted an arm, raising a golden staff decorated with golden chains. My eyes widened when I realized what it was going to do. The robotic warrior raised the staff above its head, obviously planning to strike me, but I couldn't move. It was as if I was in some sort of trance. I couldn't even look away from its eyes. It continued to sing that sad song, and I suddenly began to feel really tired. I unconsciously raised a hand to reach out towards the warrior, my eyes half lidded. As if in slow motion, the staff began to descend towards me. And all I could do was wait.

"_What the hell do you think you're doing, kid?!"_

"Huh?"

Suddenly a sharp pain collided with my side, making me close my eyes tightly.

* * *

I gasped loudly as I reopened my blue-green hues, the pain from before returning tenfold. I tried to sit up, but there was something really heavy on top of me.

"Urgh…" I groaned, cracking one of my eyes open. My poor eyesight met with pools of jade. I stared blankly for a while, trying to comprehend the situation.

"What the hell's gotten into you?"

I blinked once again at the familiar, accented voice, doing my best to focus on the face. The familiar face that was now frowning down at me. Another groan escaped my lips as the weight was lifted off of me, and the person, who I now recognized as Fang was trying to help me up.

"Argh! I can't!" I tried to tell her as she kept on pulling me up. Even though I was as limp as a dishrag, the woman was able to pull me to my feet with ease. If it wasn't for the strong hold the Pulsian had around me, I would have fallen, crashing back to the floor. I was too weak to even support my own weight.

"Hey, c'mon. Pull yourself together!" The woman practically screamed in my ear. "Hope!"

Not a second later, a wave of relief washed over me. Hope had obviously send a cure spell my way. Yes, it was still painful to so much as move, but my eyesight wasn't horrible. And I was able to see I was in the same place I was before the whole warrior thing. Was that all just a dream?

"Can you stand on your own?" Fang's voice pulled me from my thoughts. I turned to look at her with a tired frown. I wobbled a little as I pushed myself away from her.

"What happened?" I asked, bringing a hand up to my head.

"_What happened_? That's what I'd like to know. Though, now it's not the time, or place." The wild haired woman stated, with a frown of her own. "Eidolons." She scoffed lightly, taking her bladed lance from behind her back.

"E-Eidolon…" I snapped my head towards Hope and Lightning who were fighting…the same being I had encountered before…

I noticed that the Ushmugal was nowhere to be seen. Either it fled away, or it was killed while I was… well, wherever I was.

"Alright, let's go." Fang said before running towards the battlefield. She stopped midway when she realized I wasn't moving. "Faith?"

I looked up at her, my eyebrows knitted together. "I… I can't." I said, shaking my head with pursed lips. "This is too much… I can barely stand!" My voice cracked as the tone got higher and higher. "I should just… This all your fault!"

"Hope!" I looked back at the battle, Hope had just been thrown away by a powerful aeroga spell. Lightning quickly sent a cure spell his way. I saw her slightly turn her head towards me, a deep frown on her features. My gaze locked with hers for a moment. Apparently she had heard what I said.

I turned back towards Fang, who wore a similar frown to Lightning's. I heaved a sigh, biting onto my lip lightly. "I- I'm sorry…"

Just as I said that, the ground shook slightly. I turned back to the Eidolon, whose gaze was locked on me. Before I could so much as blink, the warrior was already charging at me, its staff raised above its head. I breathed out a shaky breath, standing up straight as I waited for my fate.

'**Clash!'**

"Ugh."

"F-Fang…?" My eyes widened as I staggered backwards. The wild haired woman had leaped in front of me and the Eidolon without hesitation, her bladed lance clashing with the Eidolon's staff. The woman didn't look back at me, though I didn't need to look at her face to know she was angry.

"Enough!"

"Eh...?" I turned my head around. Lightning was running over, her gunblade in hand and her eyes on the Eidolon. She harshly grabbed onto my arm, shaking it roughly. "Stop saying nonsense and fight this thing. It wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you." The woman spoke coldly, her eyes just as cold as she gave me a side glance. She slightly loosened her grip, her gaze softening the slightest bit. "Sorry. I understand that this is a lot for a kid, but you have to fight this."

"I- why?! We're finished anyway!" I yelled, pulling my arm away from the pinkette's hold. I fell to the floor weakly, my breathing ragged as I clenched my head with my other hand tighter. The woman turned her head to glance at me before looking back to see Fang having trouble with the robotic warrior.

"Hope." The woman stated. I looked back at the silver haired boy, a frown marring my features. "You can't just leave your family." The former soldier's eyebrows knitted together as her hand hovered above my head, casting a cure spell.

I looked back at her in shock. My mouth opened and closed for a moment. "I…"

"AAhhh!"

"Hope!"

I stared at my brother's form as he stood up once again. The Eidolon had knocked him off his feet, annoyed with the spells the boy shot at it. Making my mind up, I nodded towards Lightning. The pink haired woman nodded back, extending a hand towards me.

"We can do this." The former soldier said as she helped me up.

**BATTLE COMMENCE**

_Battle theme: Eidolons_

I shook my head once I was on my feet.

"No."

I wasn't looking at the soldier, though I didn't have to look at her to know she was frowning in confusion. "I don't mean to sound selfish… but this is part of my story… and it'll go the way I want it." I looked up at her with a determined frown. My lips pursed in a thin line. "Or I'll end it here…"

"What…?" The woman's voice was barely audible, but I didn't pay attention to her. I unseathed my chained blade, heaving a low sigh as I stared at my Eidolon's form.

"Valefor…" I said in a hoarse voice. The female Eidolon turned towards me, the purple orbs burning into my soul. I bit down onto my lip, my heart thundering inside my chest.

"This is my fight…" I stated, loud enough for the others to hear. I didn't wait for a reply, and fell into a fighting stance, gripping my chain tightly. "This is it… This…is my story."

The Eidolon seemed to snap at that, and instantly raised her staff. She swung it in my direction, an aero spell twirling its way towards me. I rolled to the side, gritting my teeth as a small wave of pain washed through me. I was still injured from the previous events. I quickly took note of that. That was one of my many disadvantages in this fight. And if I wanted to win, I had to be smart. Plan this out to the end.

'**Crash!' **

"Gah!" I yelped as Valefor's staff landed where I had just been on the floor. 'I-… when did it get this close?' I cursed and swung my blade at it. The Eidolon merely stared at my weapon, slightly leaning to the side as the blade went past its head.

"Dammit." Retracting my weapon back towards me, I change to Ravager role, quickly shooting water spells at the being. The spells barely did any damage, if it did anything at all. I bit down onto my lip as I thought on what to do. The Eidolon seemed to base on aero attacks more than anything. And it would be too dangerous to get close to it. The being would most likely slam her staff down on me, but she seemed a bit sloppy when it came to close combat. So in other words… I'd have to take the chance and get close to it.

As I kept on thinking about my options, the Eidolon found an opening and swung her staff in my direction. I barely had time to move, so I leaned backwards. I felt the wind rush by my face as the staff went past me. However, I had forgotten about the chains wrapped around the staff.

"Argh!" I hissed in pain, my eyes suddenly filling with tears. The golden, metal chain had struck me right across the face. Leaving a horrible sting in my cheek. I fell to the floor, bringing a hand up to the injury. "Aahh…dammit." I cursed as I felt a warm liquid in the tips of my fingers.

"Faith! Look out!" I heard Hope's warning tone. I snapped my head up, my eyes widening when I saw a fire spell taking speed towards me. Taking a tight hold of my weapon, I jumped, landing on my side.

The Eidolon ran towards me at incredible speed, staff ready to strike. My eyes widened as the Eidolon made a savage swing to my side. With eyes shut tightly, I jumped, hoping that I'd be able to jump over it. I felt the rush of wind on my back, signaling that I had succeeded in dodging it. I fell to the floor with a grunt. I barely had time to stand up when Valefor was moving to strike me again.

Changing to Commando, I got up and ran at full speed towards the Eidolon, with barely an idea of what I was going to do. In all honesty, I had no idea whatsoever of what I would do next. Though, I knew I had to get close to the Eidolon, or I would never finish this. I grunted a bit as I threw the chained blade towards Valefor. The female warrior seemed to be caught by surprise as she quickly raised her arms to protect herself. The chain wrapped itself onto her forearms, and I couldn't help but inhale sharply when I wasn't able to retract the blade back towards me. I gave a sharp tug, gripping the chain tightly. I looked at the Eidolon as it slowly lowered one of her arms. My eyebrows furrowed, I could only hope the Eidolon wasn't about to do what I thought she was gonna do. Then the next thing I know, I was in the air. The scenery went past me at lightning speed, and not a few seconds later, my back collided with hard concrete. The wind was knocked out of me, and all I could do was gasp to try to get it back. I wasn't sure if the crack I heard was of the concrete bellow, or I had just broken something…maybe both.

"Faith!" Someone called out to me. Lightning's frowning face popped in my squinted line of vision. "C'mon." The woman touched my shoulder. It could have been a light touch, though, it didn't feel like it. She helped me sit up, with much protest from me. "You're gonna need a proper treatment when we get to your house, but this will do for now." The woman told me as she casted a cure spell, helping me stand to my feet. I grunted, groaned, and moaned in pain. The spell was taking too long to make effect.

I grimaced as the pain on my back subsided slowly. "United we stand." I turned my head towards Lightning after she spoke. The woman was looking off to the Eidolon, who was being provoked by Fang. I furrowed my eyebrows, hissing a bit as the pain was now but a nagging feeling. The pinkette slightly turned her head towards me and continued. "Divided we fall."

"Agh." I placed a hand on my abdomen as I stood up straight, wincing a bit. "I- but this is…"

"We do this _together_." My eyes widened after those words left the woman's lips. I couldn't do anything but nod, my jaw hanging open. It was kind of hard to believe something like that would come out of the stoic soldier. She who wanted to leave me and Sazh behind when I first met her.

Lightning nodded her head and ran towards Valefor, performing a somersault as the Eidolon swung her weapon at the pinkette. She then thrusted her gunblade in front of her, hitting the robot-like warrior in the arm. This only seemed to anger the being, so she pushed the former soldier back with a strong aero spell.

While this was happening, Hope was casting some buffs on our party as Fang casted deprotect and slow on the being. I slightly limped forward, raising a hand to cast an ice spell. I was pleasantly surprised when the Eidolon seemed to staggered a bit. In other words, its weakness was ice. Valefor apparently had enough. She struck Fang with her staff, pushing the woman off her feet. She then turned towards Lightning, who was in the middle of curing Fang. The pink haired woman barely had time to dodge, so she leaped backwards, only to get send back by an aeroga spell. Next was Hope, who quickly changed to Ravager mode after casting Protect on himself. The Eidolon shot a firaga spell at the silver haired boy, though the boy was protected thanks to the spell he had casted on himself. But then, out of the thick smoke, came Valefor's staff, striking the boy across his abdomen.

Now it was me. Valefor looked down at me with bright purple orbs, and I stared right back. I began to limp forward, slowly falling into a limping run. Going past the pain, I ran at full speed towards Valefor, who swung her weapon to the upper half of my body. With wide eyes, I slid across the floor, gritting my teeth tightly. Now I was standing right in front of Valefor, and with a cry, I took my blade and ran it across the warrior's knees. Changing back to Ravager, I casted blizzard on the Eidolon's legs stopping her movements for a moment. In only seconds the female warrior had broken the ice and was intent on hitting me. However, I changed to Commando when Valefor decided to strike me once again. I leaped forward, throwing my chained blade at the Eidolon with all the strength I had in me. The chain wrapped itself onto her neck this time. I pulled with all I had in me, though it wasn't enough. But before the Eidolon could move again, a blizzaga spell froze her feet to the floor, and when I looked back Fang had taken a hold of the chain with me. I stared at her with wide eyes and she only smirked back.

"Pull!" I nodded at the command just as Fang gave a powerful pull herself, almost making me fall. With both of us pulling, and Hope and Lightning casting all the ice spells they knew at the Eidolon, it was finally pulled to its knees.

**BATTLE ENDS**

I let out a relieved sigh when the Eidolon stopped moving, though I quickly gripped my weapon when it raised its head to look at me. It slowly raised a hand and placed it over her chest, almost bowing her head. She detached my weapon from around her neck and stood to her full height before it started to glow and levitate in midair. I watched in wonder as it slowly began to transform into a bird like-Dragon. It had the same glowing, purple orbs, but that was probably the only thing that hadn't changed. It now had a long, white beak. The neck and body were decorated with metal-like white scales that were lined in gold. The chest had soft looking golden feathers, and her blue wings were decorated with golden chains. The legs were strong, golden claws twitching slightly. I could only describe it as a majestically looking creature.

It gracefully flew towards me, indicating for me to get on. I quickly did so after wrapping my weapon around my torso, taking a tight grip of some of the chains wrapped around its neck. It roared, flapping its wings gracefully. When it started to glow once again, I jumped off. It slowly vanished into a yellow, wing-shaped crystal in a flash of light. I lifted a hand as it descended, and as I enclosed my fingers around it, it vanished. I looked down at my brand to see it glow for a second before it died down back to its pitch black color.

"Faith…?" I turned my head towards the voice, meeting my brother's gaze. "Are you… okay?"

I nodded, my lips coiling into a small smile, but it was quickly replaced by a grimace as pain shot through my cheek. Lifting a hand towards the injury, I limped a bit towards Hope. Once I was standing right in front of him, I lifted my free hand to place it on his head and lightly ruffled his hair. He flinched slightly, though, the ghost of a smile could be seen on his lips. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what.

"Hey, we should get a move on." Lightning spoke up. I turned towards her and nodded.

Hope then stepped forward, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Lightning's knife. "Um… Operation Nora didn't work out." The silver haired boy said as he handed Lightning the knife. The pink haired woman said nothing and wrapped her arms around Hope. To say I didn't feel jealous at all would be a lie. I wasn't able to hug my brother because of my pride mostly. Plus, I think it would be uncomfortable for the both of us. However, this stoic soldier could. I was happy though. I know he needed the comfort after everything that happened.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned my head slightly to look up at Fang. The woman tilted her head slightly, a dark brown eyebrow raised. "F-Fang… I…" I looked down at the floor, chewing on my bottom lip. "What I said before… I didn't mean it." I looked up at the woman's face. It was the most serious I've ever seen her. "I don't really blame you…" I tensed up a bit when the woman raised a hand. My gaze immediately averted to the floor, waiting for her to hit me or something. My eyes widened a bit when she lightly pushed my head back with two fingers.

"Don't sweat over it, yeah? You were at a low point… I get it." The woman told me, smirking lightly. She then nodded her head towards Snow's barely conscious form, walking towards him and kneeling beside him. My face hardened slightly, but I didn't say anything.

"Don't forget about this one." Fang said, sitting the man up as Lightning made her way towards them.

"That one will be alright." Lightning said as she placed one of Snow's arms around her shoulders. "He's too stubborn to die."

The pink haired woman stood up and began to walk with Snow barely carrying his weight.

I turned around and began to lead the way towards my house, I was limping slightly and the pain on my cheek hadn't died down, but I was okay. I was alive. That sure was something. I was tired, and wanted nothing but to lie down. But I couldn't… not yet.

Hope walked beside me as we went up a set of stairs. His silver eyebrows were furrowed anxiously, and he kept clenching his fist tightly. I get why he was like this. We would have an encounter with our father once we reached home. I chewed on my bottom lip as I lifted an arm and hesitantly placed it around the boy's shoulders. He snapped his head towards me, blinking at me in confusion.

"I-… I need a bit of help…" I replied, looking down at my limping leg. It was an excuse obviously. I could go past the pain and reach home on my own. Though, I wanted to help Hope get his mind out of what was troubling him at the moment.

The silver haired boy looked down at my leg before looking back up at me. "Oh." He nodded and wrapped one of his arms around my waist to steady me a bit as I leaned some of my weight against him. He looked back up at me and smiled. I was about to smile back, but turned away instead. I felt a bit embarrassed to be honest. It's not often that I admit I need help. And it could have been my imagination, but I think I heard Hope chuckled slightly. It would only be for a bit now though. I could already see my house from here. I could only hope my father would understand… Things were about to get serious… I could tell. I already felt tensed just by thinking about it. How were we going to tell dad about mom's death?... We'd just have to wait and see.

I looked around the garden around my house once we were at the top of the stairs. 'Everything will be fine…' I told myself, unconsciously taking a grip of Hope's jacket as we stood in front of the door. 'Just need to have a little faith.'

* * *

**A/N: Finally out... This chapter took forever. As you can notice, I totally changed Valefor's looks for the story. Though her Gestalt mode is how she looks like in the small appearance she made in Nautilus. I must admit, I had a bit of trouble on deciding what Eidolon to choose... I almost chose Carbuncle... no joke XD **

**Anyways, the fight was lame I know and Valefor appears weak. But we all know that Eidolons appear to 'help' and test their summoners to see if they are worthy. So that's why she didn't go all crazy on Faith and trying to kill her and all... I hope you understand what I'm saying and that you're not disappointed or anything XD.**

**Well guys, thank you so much for the REVIEWS, the FOLLOWS, and FAVORITES! It really means a lot! Thank you! **

**(Btw, I know I took long with the chapter, and it would have been out like weeks earlier if it weren't for school... My physics teacher gives homework non-stop... I hate that class... and deeply dislike him for giving me no breaks XD Just thought I'd let you know... updates may be a bit slow because I'm in my senior year of high school and it's getting a bit tough to have free time even though it's the beginning of the semester. But do not fret my pretties! I don't leave things undone! I'm not just gonna leave the story! :3) **


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